INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES IN AGRICULTURAL AND ... · “The founding institutes defined under Article 2 have acknowledged the necessity of joining together, on an international

INTERDISCIPLINARY

APPROACHES IN AGRICULTURAL

AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Proceedings of Enter Study Days in Prague

11 – 13 May 2016

Prague, Czech Republic

Interdisciplinary Approaches in Agricultural and Environmental Education Proceedings of Enter Study Days in Prague

Editorial board: Mgr. Jiří Votava, Ph.D., Prof. Ing. Milan Slavík, CSc. Book cover: Ing. Barbora Jordánová Publisher: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Institute of Education and Communication Issue: 80 copies Edition: First, 2016 Publication is not a subject of language check. Papers are sorted by authors’ names in alphabetical order. This publication is not for sale. ISBN 978-80-213-2662-0 © Czech University of Life Sciences Prague © Authors of papers

TABLE OF CONTENTS An Introductory Word / Slovo úvodem .................................................... 5

Milan Slavík

The Value of ENTER .......................................................................... 8

Jan-Willem Noom

The Topic of Study Days 2016 ............................................................. 10

Jiří Votava

Programme .................................................................................... 12

Plenary Session ............................................................................... 15

Interdisciplinarity Needs Dispute! ........................................................ 16

Willi Linder

Challenges of Global Education .......................................................... 20

Vojtěch Marek

Education and International Cooperation .............................................. 21

Jiří Votava

International Activities of the Institute of Education and Communication: Participation in the Development Project in Cambodia ......................... 24

Karel Němejc

Paper Session ................................................................................. 31

Systems Thinking in Agriculture Lessons ................................................ 32

Eva-Maria Alfing

Motivating Student with a Powerful Learning Environment and a Growth

Mindset ................................................................................. 41

Marije Bijma-Pasma

The Use of Project Based Education in Higher Green Professional Education ..... 49

Johan Bijzen

Small Virtual Building Site – Written Examination for Measuring of Compe-

tencies .................................................................................. 54

Detlef Haß

Interaction of Selected Disciplines in a Teaching Czech as a Foreign Language . 64

Hana Hudečková

What Should be an Ideal Composition of Career Counselling in Secondary

Vocational Education? ............................................................... 68

Jitka Jirsáková

4 Enter Study Days – Prague 2016

CLIL - Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum Travelling between Two

Comfort Zones ......................................................................... 72

Beate Kralicek

Research on the Development of Vocational Education for the New-Generation

of Women Farmers in Yunnan Rural Areas ........................................ 79

Yu Ma

Innovative Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Learning ............................... 87

Jan-Willem Noom in collaboration with Beate Kralicek

Teaching Facts with Fiction in Environmental Education

Marcel Robischon ..................................................................... 97

System Thinking, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. What Do we Teach the Future Generation? ............................................................ 106

Sandra van der Wielen

List of Participants ......................................................................... 111

Enter Study Days – Prague 2016 5

AN INTRODUCTORY WORD

The history of the ENTER organization is strongly linked to our institute. It was on its grounds in between 2000 and 2002 where a meeting took place of the representatives from until then still separated "worlds" of the Eastern and Central European as well as Western European institutions that train teachers of vocational subjects for secondary agricultural, horticultural and forestry education, and education which was later associated with the general principle of rural development. The REIFEA organization was indeed a body that brought together teacher-training institutions from France, Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian countries and others. In eastern bloc, rather out of passion and professional enthusiasm, colleagues from what were then Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Hungary and Russia joined and created an informal group (IPAC), which organized the international pedagogical colloquia. The new organization was looking for a name which should not only be an acronym of its title, but should also reflect the fact that newcomers are welcome to enter, hence the original ENTRE gradually became ENTER. This is synonymous with the expressions such as come, welcome, join us, step in, take place… Even the status was formulated in a similar spirit from the early days. We can cite from the original:

“The founding institutes defined under Article 2 have acknowledged the necessity of joining together, on an international level, in order to develop their scientific and pedagogical co-operation in initial and in-service teacher training and teaching in the fields of agriculture, forestry, environment, green systems and rural development. They all have decided that for, to create the “European network for learning and teaching in agriculture and rural development””

From the very beginning one of the most important activities, among others, has been to create a platform for personal meetings in the form of conferences and workshops. Therefore the idea of Study Days was implemented. First Study Days were held in 2002 in Finnish Turk, then, in 2003, in Dutch Dronten and in 2004 in Olsztyn, Poland. In the impressive history, the host organizations later included Teacher Training Institutions from Bulgaria, France, Austria, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. The ambition of these meetings was not only to exchange information, but also the experience of preparing teachers of vocational subjects. An important plus was the fact that, apart from the presentation of papers, seminars and workshops were also conducted. The aim of the organizers was to enable meeting of foreign participants with the local, home teachers, so that the host country and its teaching staff could also gain profit from these meetings. This was sometimes more, sometimes less successful. What is there to wish the ENTER organisation for the following days and years? Let the renewal of the ENTER board leadership bring new thoughts


and ideas on activities not only in the time of the Study days, but also in the meantime. Let ENTER become a platform for exchange of ideas, experience and establishing of other professional and personal friendships.

Prof. Milan Slavík, Director of the Institute

SLOVO ÚVODEM

Historie existence organizace ENTER je výrazně spojena s naším pracovištěm. Na jeho půdě došlo v letech 2000 a potom 2002 k setkání zástupců do té doby ještě vzájemně oddělených „světů“ východní a střední Evropy a západní Evropy institucí, které připravují učitele odborných předmětů pro střední zemědělské, zahradnické a lesnické školství a školství, které je později spojováno s obecným principem rozvoje venkova. Organizace REIFEA byla vskutku organizací, která sdružovala instituce vzdělávání učitelů z Francie, Itálie, Španělska, zemí skandinávských a dalších. V bloku východním se spíše z nadšení a profesního entusiasmu spojili kolegové tehdejšího Československa, Německé demokratické republiky, Polska, Maďarska, Ruska a vytvořili neformální uskupení (IPAC), které organizovalo mezinárodní pedagogická kolokvia. Nová organizace hledala své jméno, které mělo být nejen akronymem názvu, ale mělo vyjadřovat i to, že nově příchozí jsou vítáni, aby vstoupili, proto od původního ENTRE se postupně dospělo v ENTER, což lze také chápat jako synonymum ke slovům vstupte, vítejte, přidejte se, zapojte se a nalezněte své místo. Stejně tak byl od začátku formulován status, z původního je možné citovat:

„Zakládající instituce vyjmenované v Článku 3 vnímají potřebu vytvořit jednu společnou organizaci s cílem rozvíjet na mezinárodní úrovni spolupráci ve výzkumu a ve vzdělávání v oblasti počáteční a další profesní přípravy učitelů a ve výuce zemědělských, lesnických, environmentálních, biologických a dalších oborů blízkých k rozvoji venkova. Výše jmenovaní se

usnesli založit Evropskou síť pro učení a vyučování v oborech blízkých zemědělství a rozvoji venkova’”

Jednou z významných aktivit mimo jiné bylo již od samých začátků vytvořit platformu pro osobní setkání ve formě konferencí či workshopů, a tak byla realizována myšlenka Study Days. První Study Days se konaly v roce 2002 ve finském Turku, 2003 v nizozemském Drontnu a v roce 2004 v Olsztyně v Polsku. V úctyhodné historii byly později hostitelskými organizacemi Teacher training institutions z Bulharska, Francie, Rakouska, Slovinska, Španělska a Švýcarska. Ambicí těchto setkání byla nejen výměna informací, ale i zkušeností s přípravou učitelů odborných předmětů. Významným kladem bylo i to, že se kromě prezentace referátů uskutečnily i semináře


a workshopy. Cílem organizátorů bylo, aby se zahraniční účastníci setkali s místními, domácími učiteli, aby i hostitelská země a jejich pedagogické sbory z těchto setkání mohly profitovat. To se někdy více, někdy méně dařilo. Co popřát organizaci ENTER do dnů a let následujících. Ať obměna vedení v ENTER board přinese nové myšlenky a ideje na činnost nejen v době konání Study Days, ale i v mezidobí. Ať se ENTER stane platformou pro výměnu názorů, zkušeností a navazování dalších profesních i osobních přátelství.

Prof. Milan Slavík, ředitel Institutu vzdělávání a poradenství


THE VALUE OF ENTER

Thank you very much for giving the floor to me for a couple of minutes. Dear colleagues, dear professional friends who came to Prague from all over Europe, dear friends from the Czech university of life sciences, Institute of Education and Communication in Prague, on behalf of the board of ENTER I would like to welcome you on the occasion of the study days 2016 about the theme ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches in Agricultural and Environmental Education’. The ENTER board in the term 2014-2016 has been formed by Beate Kralicek from Austria, Tonya Georghieva from Bulgaria, Paco Ortiz from Spain, Jiří Votava from the Czech republic and myself from The Netherlands. As the ENTER-board we are very grateful for the hospitality of the Centre of Education and Communication, to organise and arrange the study days here in Prague. A sincere and cordial word of thanks to the people who made it possible, in the front and also behind the scenes. Director Milan Slavík and lecturer Jiří Votava, they were able to trust on the support of Barbora Jorda nova, Katerina Tomsi kova and Bohuslava Kli c nikova. The theme as defined by the ENTER-board, the program, the practical organisation by the institution here in Prague and arranging everything in a smooth way in advance, gives me a pleasant prospect in having inspiring and energetic study days! In an educational landscape, full of institutions in the world of learning, higher education and training, there are several international networks with a focus on learning, innovation, competence development and didactical or pedagogical disciplines. ENTER is the only small size network across Europe which has a strongly operational focus in the world of teacher-training and learning in the land-based area and its sectors. While networks and conferences like AERA or EAPRIL have a strong scientificly oriented character, the strength of ENTER is the small size and focus on the exchange of good practices in between land-based or environmental teacher-training units across Europe. For example creating common European projects about learning or flat organized projects for our students, where students from different ENTER institutions can meet and collaborate thematically in a short course. Another activity is comparative field research, the exchange of teachers and lecturers between ENTER institutions and to learn from each other in the approach of teaching or training and create a renewed vision on our daily practice. Our daily job is being teacher-trainer or in-company trainer in further education. For all of us the land-based area is our inspiring and important context of operating. The role of a teacher-trainer is a complex one. The know-how, knowledge, skills and insights are not only primary focused on an agricultural or horticultural discipline, but is always connected to the question: how to transfer knowledge to others, and how to stimulate learning. After my own graduation I started as a teacher in garden design at a VET in the North-west of The Netherlands. After a couple of years I made the move to become teacher-trainer for teachers in the discipline of landscaping and gardening.


Two complete different professions. In the VET institution I discovered that the main topics in team meetings and around coffee corners were about the land based know-how and about the behavior of pupils and students, and not about learning or how to stimulate learning. In my opinion, the main-task of a teacher in our area (agriculture, horticulture, livestock farming, environment) should be: stimulating learning and counseling the proces of learning. Of course this requires insights in the land-based sector, but above all a teacher should actively form a vision on learning approaches. How to learn effectively in the field, in companies, during work practices or internships? And the second question: what kind of competences or skills can a student learn in these kind of learning situations? How can a teacher or trainer support this important proces? The manager of a gardening company where I did one of my own work practices told me 15 years ago: “Jan-Willem, you have to learn this craft of garden designing and construction in the field, with your hands”. I understand his opinion from his point of view. But on the other hand I see the value of schools, training institutions and so on. Teachers in these kind of (pre-vocational) schools or training institutions should be educated. And that is the reason why our teacher or training institutions exist. Teacher-training in our field of land-based education is a specific field. Most of our institutions are relatively small organizations, units which belong to a larger university or training institution. To know if we do the right things, comparison with colleague institutions is valuable and in my opinion it is essential. In most of our partner countries there is one teacher-trainer unit in the land-based area, which has a national orientation. So, on the national level there is nobody who can function as an equal sparring partner. We, international partners, absolutely need each other to analyze how our curricula are being constructed, in relation to the wishes and demands from the field or market. On the map of Europe you will find the ENTER-partner institutions across Europe. Unfortunately not all European countries are represented in our network. Sometimes it has to do with the absence of our unique niche of land-based teacher training in a country, sometimes units are too small to focus on international collaboration. But an important goal is to invite more European stable partners to contribute and participate in our activities. ENTER has to become more and more a platform of exchange: an active network in which partners will find each other to collaborate in our daily activities. I can imagine that ENTER will develop a thematic structure in which partners connect themselves to a specific topic in our field. For a certain period partners can collaborate in this way, financially supported by Erasmus. Also, ENTER has created the ENTER Expert-structure, which can be an additional financial support for some costs. Collaborating in this way could be very useful, inspiring and constructive: support each other in our learning, improving our approaches by guest lectures, teacher exchanges, student exchanges and of course student projects. The future of our student’s profession is in fact the reason why


we do exist. Let’s use the next couple of days, including the general assembly tomorrow, to create the next steps in the timeframe of ENTER. Let’s finish with a short overview of the different actions undertaken in the past two years by ENTER. Wishing everyone enriching study days, „přeju vám příjemný seminář!“

Jan-Willem Noom, President of ENTER

THE TOPIC OF STUDY DAYS 2016

To achieve challenging and distant targets it is essential to acquire knowledge that crosses the boundaries of disciplines and the capacity of the mind of an average person. Landing a spacecraft on the Moon would not succeed without the involvement of top experts from engineering, natural sciences and humanities. We can expect two possible directions of development in disciplines of human knowledge and therefore in learning. On the one hand differentiation and specialization will continue, science themes will remain narrow and focused on very specific knowledge. At the end of this process, there stand specialists, experts or workers replaceable with difficulty. On the other hand there is an increasingly expected growth in demand for the ability to communicate and collaborate interdisciplinarily. This trend can already be observed also in vocational training for rural areas. The conference seeks to answer the question of what interdisciplinary cooperation means in vocational education and how it can be developed in school practice. Specifically, it is our hope that participants from abroad and from the Czech Republic will share their experience and discuss how curricula of vocational education mingle and inspire each other. We are also interested in how teachers of individual subjects can work together, how interdisciplinary cooperation is manifested in specific forms and methods of teaching and what competences students should get to be able to navigate themselves and to succeed in today's complex and highly interconnected world. We also focus on environmental issues and the importance of the phenomenon of globalization in vocational education.


TÉMA STUDY DAYS 2016

Pro dosažení náročných a vzdálených cílů je nezbytné vědění, které překračuje hranice oborů a kapacitu mysli průměrného člověka. Přistání kosmické lodi na měsíci by se nepodařilo bez součinnosti špičkových odborníků z technických, přírodovědních i humanitních věd. Můžeme očekávat dva možné směry vývoje oborů lidského poznávání a tedy i vzdělávání. Na jedné straně bude pokračovat diferenciace a specializace, témata věd zůstanou úzká a zaměřená na velmi konkrétní znalosti. Na konci tohoto procesu stojí specialisté, experti, těžko nahraditelní pracovníci. Na druhou stranu se stále více očekává růst poptávky po schopnostech komunikovat a spolupracovat mezioborově. Tento trend lze již dnes pozorovat také v odborném vzdělávání pro venkovský prostor. Konference hledá odpověď na otázku, co znamená mezioborová spolupráce v odborném vzdělávání a jakým způsobem ji lze rozvíjet ve školní praxi. Konkrétně je naším přáním, aby účastníci ze zahraničí i z České republiky sdíleli své zkušenosti a diskutovali, jak se prolínají a vzájemně inspirují kurikula odborného vzdělávání, jak mohou spolupracovat vyučující jednotlivých předmětů mezi sebou, jak se projevuje mezioborová spolupráce v konkrétních formách a metodách výuky a jaké kompetence mají získat žáci, aby se dokázali zorientovat a uspět v dnešním složitém a úzce propojeném světě. Zaměříme se také na otázky životního prostředí a význam fenoménu globalizace v odborném vzdělávání. Konference je určená všem pedagogům, zejména učitelům odborných škol zemědělských, lesnických a příbuzných oborů, studentům učitelství, vzdělavatelům učitelů, zástupcům vedení škol, představitelům státní správy, pracovníkům organizací působícím v oblasti venkova a ochrany životního prostředí, poradcům a dalším zájemcům.


PROGRAMME

Wednesday 11th of May

9.30 – 10.00 Registration of participants 9.30 – 12.00 Plenary session 10.00 – 10.15 Welcome speech,

Milan Slavík, director of the Institute of Education and Communication

10.15 – 10.30 Interdisciplinary approach – opening of the topic Jiří Votava, Institute of Education and Communication

10.30 – 11.00 Interdisciplinarity needs Dispute! Willi Linder, Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpädagogik

11.00 – 11.15 Coffee break

11.15 – 11.45 Challenges of global education Vojtěch Marek, ADRA Czech Republic

11.45 – 12.45 Education and international cooperation Jiří Votava, Karel Němejc, Institute of Education and Communication

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch at Institute 14.00 – 15.00 Workshop 1 - Ecology and Learning,

leading by Sandra van der Wielen Workshop 2 - Internationl projects and cooperaation –experience and future, leading by Jiří Votava

14.00 – 15.00 Paper session 1

15.00 – 15.30 Coffee break

15.30 – 16.30 Workshop 3 – What should be an ideal composition of career counselling in secondary vocational education? leading by Jitka Jirsáková Workshop 4 – Methods of global development, leading by ADRA Czech Republic

15.30 – 16.30 Paper session 2

16.30 – 17.00 Closure, conclusions from all working groups


Thursday 12th of May

9.00 – 14.00 Excursion to secondary vocational schools Agricultural College and Agricultural Secondary

School Benešov 15.00 – 16.00 ENTER general assembly 17.00 – 18.30 Farewell dinner for foreign participants 19.00 – 22.00 Culture event – Czech National Theatre

Friday 13th of May

10.00 – 15.00 Excursion to Český Kras nature protected area Walking trip

Visit to the Centre of environmental education



PLENARY SESSION


INTERDISCIPLINARITY NEEDS DISPUTE!

WILIAM LINDNER

Sustainable Development is defined as “development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland 1987). It is based on a concept of fairness, on universal human rights. Everybody agrees, it is a great concept: I do not know any person who says: sustainability is something silly, it is a bad idea, a bad concept. Every government, every company tells us: yes, we need sustainability, we should work hard for it. Nevertheless the world is less sustainable than ever before. There is something wrong: Everybody wishes more sustainability, but most indicators show, that processes are getting less sustainable. Let us take a closer look: Usually sustainability is described in three dimensions: ecology, economy and equity. Some add a fourth dimension, culture for example. These dimensions often are described as overlapping circles: in the middle, where all three circles meet, there is sustainability, there is a balance of economic growth, resource protection and social compensation. It is harmony, love and peace – sounds like the “paradise”, where everything is in balance. Others describe sustainability as a pyramid: the large base, this is nature. We all depend on nature. On this base society is located. And on top you find economy. In this picture the three dimensions are not comparable: Society has to follow the rules of nature, and economy has to serve society – not the other way round. This model is in discussion too: history showed us that the “limits of growth” (Club of Rome 1972) may be extended by new technologies that not only societies form their economies but also economies create social systems. Circles or pyramid - which of these pictures do you prefer? Your choice has a lot of very serious consequences. But, astonishingly enough, there is almost no dispute about such questions. Maybe because they disturb harmony. I distrust such harmonies. We need change and not stagnation or regression. We all work for a sustainable future! Multinational companies argue in that way, as well as labor organizations, NGOs as well as governments. I am concerned that they all use the same term for entire different concepts. That’s why we should learn to dispute, to ask questions, even if they are uncomfortable. The ancient Greeks made a difference between disputing in order to win the discussion, no matter whether you are right or wrong (thy called it eristics) and dialectics as discussion in order to find a solution, to make a decision. In science, we are familiar with “the art of dialectics”. Scientific progress takes place, when theories and models are challenged, when scenarios and alternatives are developed, when different perceptions meet. But in school we are used to present unquestionable truths. In our educational work, we rarely use aporias or contradictions as opportunities to learn – especially in science learning and vocational training. Right or


wrong – true or false this is the question. If we know the right answer, we will pass the exam, if not we will fail. Cognitive sciences teach us: Learning takes place when differences are being noticed, we learn by irritations, by perceiving contradictions. In complex matters there is no simple “right” or “wrong”. This is true especially for sustainable concepts. It is one of the most important matters for education for sustainable development: Gerhard de Haan (Freie Universität Berlin) argues that the ability for conceptual thinking and acting is a key competence for sustainable development. This competence includes the ability to describe solutions for multi-criteria decision problems for which sustainable development goals compete with each other (Programm Transfer 21). But disputes often end – nowhere, without any results. Think of climate protection versus economic growth. “We need to reduce emissions” against “we need to fight poverty, we need development for the poor”. In a little booklet called “Eris and Eirene” the famous Austrian physicist, Prof. Herbert Pietschmann, discusses this problem. He is convinced that every position has a negative side, he calls it shadow. The shadow of climate protection could be loss of competitiveness, could be unemployment. And the shadow of economic growth is a loss of natural resources. In a dispute every side argues against the shadow of the others: “You take the risk of unemployment!” – “You do not care of our basis of existence!” As a next step, every side starts to defend the own shadow. “It is not that bad, unemployment has different reasons! “ –Climate change is not scientifically proven, we have to go on.” In this situation no solution can be found. Pietschmann thinks that it is necessary for a solution to see the shadow of our own position – and to fight against the own shadow in order to seek for solutions on a common level. For sustainable development it is absolutely necessary to find out, where there is dissent. Who will profit, who will lose? It is just not true that we all will profit: it is absolutely clear, that flying thousands of miles for less than 100 Euros cannot be sustainable – even if we find it great! Paying fair wages will reduce profit of some companies. It will be hard for them to accept this. It is a matter of education to provide settings for learning to handle contradictions, seeing shadows of one position and learning to change views. Anteacher told me the following story several years ago: “I am teaching biology, and I am telling my students that we should not build more hydro-electric dams, it causes very much damage to biodiversity. My colleague, he teaches physics tells the students: We need more hydro-electric plants in order to avoid greenhouse gases and protect the environment. When I ask the students: what do you think building dams, they say: very bad, when my colleague asks them, the same students say very good”– “So what do you do in this situation”, I asked. “We found a very simple way to teach them to think on their own: we went together into the classroom and asked them for their positions. As teachers we have to encourage young people to seek their own ways, to make up their own opinion”.


As teachers we have to respect the restriction of overpowering: any topic, which is controversially discussed in society has to be described controversially in education. This does not mean that we have to avoid such topics, on the contrary: we have to develop learning situations that students learn to change their perspective – and develop their own position. This is a core of our concept of green pedagogy: It is a contradiction that makes as productive” (Goethe) - a quotation, you find on the homepage of our University college. Let me give another example for a setting for learning by irritation, by contradictions. An often discussed topic is wasting food. Up to 40% of produced food is wasted, when processed, when transported and distributed, when bought and consumed. Students argue: It is immoral! It is crazy! We should inform people, spend food for helpless people, give tips for cooking and storing food. But nothing (or almost nothing) happens in society. In our lectures we provide a vison to students: Imagine. From today on no food is wasted. Disposal companies post: „Significant reduction of waste accumulation, no food in waste containers any more! Bakeries and super markets just offer bread and pastries that is marketed the same day! It is a big step towards sustainability, where nature is less exploited and people get enough food. – But there is a “shadow”: Just one week later newspapers headline: Crisis in food trade companies: 20% decline in sales. Large discounts are given in order to promote sales. More than 10.000 employees got notices of termination of work contract. Another week later: ministers meet in order to take steps against a crisis in the whole nutritional sector. Even the international monetary fund warns: “Reduced consumption is a serious threat for economic growth! We have to take measures to improve consumption!” It is a very strong irritation, students face in such a scenario. Everybody is convinced that wasting food is wrong. Now they are confronted with arguments, that wasting food is not just a moral deficit but something immanent to our system of growth. Some even leave the class in such a situation. As teachers we do not offer solutions, we want them to think by themselves: Is „wasting“ indeed necessary for a prosperous society? Do we have to develop a different economy? Do we need new partnerships (e.g. food coops?) Should we promote quality instead of saving money? Such a lesson can be very irritating. It has to be set very carefully, students also may give up hope, resign. In such a case it is very important to handle these feelings and emotions in a proper way. On the other hand students keep such an irritation in mind for a long time – and hopefully think of possible way outs, of solutions. One idea would be to buy higher quality but less quantity….. Let me find a conclusion. Yes, we urgently need interdisciplinary, especially between science and humanities. When we discuss sustainable topics, we have to rethink our perspectives and to change positions in order to get new ideas and to obtain a holistic few. We also need dispute, to see our shadows to understand differences. This will help us to create new models and to find a synthesis on a higher level.


Literature, references: Our common future: World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 Eris und Eirene: Anleitung zum Umgang mit Widersprüchen und Konflikten; Herbert Pietschmann 2002 Grüne Pädagogik: Türöffner zu nachhaltigem Lernen. Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpädagogik 2016 Transfer 21: Programm für Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung; Freie Universität Berlin. www.transfer 21de


CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL EDUCATION

VOJTĚCH MAREK

Key points: Introduce the concept of Global Education. Show the methods of GE. Open a question of the challenges of todays technical innovation. Faster flow of people and knowledge known as flattening of the World is a matter of each human being and forces us towards learning about the World faster. Global education and learning is a key tool for knowing different cultures, their issues to develop an understanding of impact of our action through the whole life of an individual. Here we show one of the many definitions of Global Education. “Global Education studies different cultures and countries and the issues that face them, and develops an understanding of the impact our actions have on them.” From our point of view, it is wise to add the term “life-long learning process” so we do not exclude any person that is taking part in the global society. The accent on the focus of each of us including ourselves is essential for the ability to teach others about knowing the World better. In the following text we will focus on the global education and its use in the school institutions for use of the teachers that have the privilege to work with the children or students in systematic way in connection of other topics (subjects) to support them in knowing the global consequences and know how to for example use critical thinking and understand the role of the mass media. There are another methods and techniques that are used in practice for teaching the global education and are preferably leading towards the state to make self-opinion (perhaps conclusion) from given objective and diverse information (in case of already students). Along the critical thinking mentioned, there is so called anti-bias method. Anti-bias is often used in contradiction to one angel or one side vision of the particular issue. That means the anti-bias is using knowledge of an issue for not to generalize but rather to neutralize the issue in order to disseminate the extremist visions. Therefore always think of the other side of the story. Aside these two techniques, there is also accent to discussions and group work used for to be able to formulate our own statement and possibly to be able to stand for it. The examples of the global education methods that are used in the classes are good base for giving the children or students chance to apply their own ideas that are easily accepted and shaped by the person who develops them. However, when we talk about the global education as life-long learning process, let’s start for the new born child. How is he affected by the external influences that are constantly shaping the vision of the World?


EDUCATION AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

JIŘÍ VOTAVA

International cooperation belongs traditionally to priorities of all segments of educational systems and especially for the tertiary level internationalization represents a fundamental role of university functioning. The cooperation is possible also because there are resources and support of many European programmes and available bilateral grants. Nevertheless we can often come across following questions: “What does the international cooperation produce? How spent funds and applied human resources return back to the system? How, where and to whom the international cooperation exactly helps?” During the project work teams are facing many obstacles in the phase of partner selection, during the preparation of the application, during the realization of all projects activities as well as at the end when the project results must be disseminated and evaluated. In many cases it is necessary to make effort far behind standard working duties of involved employees. In this contribution I would like to show that thanks to the ENTER network new partnerships and new cooperation can start. The intention of this paper is also to summarize what are benefits of international cooperation for individual participants and also for institutions. With the help of natural sciences we can look at the ENTER network as spawn from which mushrooms grow. Fibres among knots are not visible at the first sight; they “sleep” under the ground. If we adopt this parallel, in spite of apparent calmness the surface hides rich history, personal contacts and ongoing communication: the netting keeps growing and the environment is getting ready to give crop. If conditions become favourable – for example in case of a new call for a project application – the network wakes up and produces tangible and concrete results. As evidence of this process could be the existing history of the ENTER network described including remarkable long list of realized projects of different size and duration – on the one hand such big tasks like Comenius centralized projects, on the another hand smaller one or diverse sorts of workshops, meetings or academic staff mobilities. Institute of Education and Communication strives in many ways to disseminate previous, to maintain ongoing and to develop future international cooperation. We wish to maintain our repute of active and demanded partner. Within the following paragraphs of the text the author would like to share some of his latest professional experience, namely from an ongoing project BEGIN, which is funded by Norwegian funds based on bilateral agreement between the Czech Republic and Norway. Two exchanges of study groups of students and academic staff made up the core part of this project. The mobility aimed to better understanding of reality of vocational education, training and counselling in agricultural and related subjects in the Czech Republic and Norway. Participants had to acquire experience and transfer it into own professions, especially into teaching and learning activities. Suggested programme offered for example visits


to secondary vocational schools and to different types of institutions at tertiary level, beside also to various counselling centres (career guidance centre, school counselling centre) or to organizations which focused on other forms of further education (museums, NGOs working in the field of environmental education, governmental bodies). Students and academic staff had opportunity to visit training in classrooms or at the workplace, they were allowed to observe interactions and communication among students and between trainer and trainee in their natural environment, they were also often invited to discuss with their hosts and to learn deeply about culture of the other country. Both Czech and Norwegian students collected evidence and materials, they documented their study journey and after it was over they compiled individual and collective reports about how the mobility was going on and what outputs and outcomes it brought. Now we would like to summarize outcomes from the BEGIN project, especially we underline those facts and impressions which were perceived by participants as important and formative. To make the list more clear outcomes are unified to more general categories:

1. Benefits for students´ professional development – two study tours (one to each partner country) were offered to students at university level who were at that time trained to become teachers of vocational subjects or to become counsellors. The experience they acquired can be incorporated in their personal professional portfolios, more over it can also become a fundament for new future development. Also employers appreciate if a job applicant shows evidence of his or her fellowship or of any other kind of international experience which could be a signal that the person developed desired competences and personal characteristics.

2. Benefits for students´ personal and social development – participants strengthened their self-confidence, they could apply and broaden rich spectrum of abilities, they managed to communicate in new environments and in foreign language, and they shifted their limits in many areas. Most of them also started thinking about more demanding aims in their future lives and work. Important but hardly to measure is the fact, that participants dispelled fears of unknown situations, they became more independent in the way they solve problems and their horizons of the world expanded beyond previous opinions, ideas or stereotypes.

3. Benefits for academic staff professional development – participants appreciated the option to get learn the content and methods of training at partner institutions. The mobility programme offered also discussions on expert topics as well as sharing of research tasks that are currently investigated in the both countries. Last but not least it turned out as very inspiring that academicals saw new training methods, learning materials, scientific publications and other informational resources.

4. Benefits for institutional development – both partner institutions consider the international cooperation as a unique opportunity


for the both sides of university mission – e.g. teaching and science. With regard to increasing pressure on competitiveness the international networking enhance in general quality of graduates and their chance during their search of a new job.

5. Other benefits – all activities could cause many positive changes, reception was remarkable for example during visits to all educational institution where new contacts and fresh air were welcomed.


INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION: PARTICIPATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT

PROJECT IN CAMBODIA

KAREL NĚMEJC

In the first half of 2016 the Institute of Education and Communication (hereafter IEC) had the opportunity to participate in the development project called “Enhancement of Technical Education in Cambodia” which is implemented by the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences (FTA) of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS Prague). The project consists of a variety of phases and activities. Through a range of the defined project aims high emphasis is put e.g. on (i) the improvement of the quality of secondary vocational education in rural areas in Cambodia, (ii) strengthening the capacity of vocational teachers, (iii) modern methods in both theoretical and practical vocational teaching, (iv) material support of the selected vocational school, (v) innovative approaches in the field of crop production, animal husbandry, processing of agricultural products, electricity, etc., (vi) know-how transfer among Czech and Cambodian experts from CULS Prague, the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) in Phnom Penh, ministries, secondary vocational schools, etc., (vii) the presentation of real examples of good practice through a study visit of Cambodian teachers of vocational subjects in the Czech Republic, and the like. The project is focused on the enhancement of vocational education at King Norodom Sihamoni General and Technical High School (in Khmer: វ ទយាលយច ណ េះ ដងា ៅពរេះបាាស តេ ពរេះបរតនាថ ន ោតេត សហតន), Kampong Chhnang Province. The school is located about two hours drive by car from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and was founded by King Norodom Sihamoni. It has 1,774 students and about 100 teachers. General education prevails, vocational education specialized in crop production, animal husbandry, processing of agricultural products, electricity, etc., is represented to a lesser extent. The IEC cooperated on the project directly in Cambodia at King Norodom Sihamoni General and Technical High School and at the RUA in Phnom Penh in the first half of February 2016. The IEC was responsible for the activities related to teaching, methodology, school evaluation and e.g. counselling services for the school management and teachers of vocational subjects. During my stay in Cambodia, several extensive group workshops for teachers of vocational subjects were conducted. The workshops were aimed at appropriate methods and forms of teaching for both theoretical and practical classes, presentation of the new information/ subject matter, organizational part of the lesson, lesson aims and outputs, necessary and convenient teaching aids and technology, activation of students, didactic principles, repetition of the knowledge, principles of examination of the students, closure of the lesson and feedback, visualization of the presented information, health and safety rules, the teacher in the role of the instructor, evaluation of teaching and learning, etc. Other workshops


were focused on the effective use of appropriate teaching aids and technology in the classroom. The teachers of vocational subjects were familiarized with the overview and the possibilities how to integrate teaching aids and technology into teaching and learning process to make their lessons more effective. E.g. the following teaching aids and technology were demonstrated and discussed: data projectors - overhead projectors - document cameras - transparencies - pictures - textbooks - models - wall/ blackboard didactic pictures, the ways of their own preparation and creation, etc. The teachers took the chance and used the opportunity to ask questions individually after each workshop. Based on the observation of the lessons of theoretical and practical vocational subjects and on the reactions on the workshop about the appropriate use of teaching aids and technology the teachers were recommended both to buy and create various teaching resources related to the topics they taught. They were also advised to get appropriate teaching technology. Another part of the IEC project activities concerned the school evaluation. I took part in several theoretical and practical lessons to help the teachers of vocational subjects to improve their teaching and to make it more effective. All the teachers that underwent the observation process were provided with the feedback. They were informed both orally (individual face to face discussion) and in a written form (through observation form). They were notified of the positive and negative aspects of their teaching. The biggest problems were obvious in teachers of practical training (poor demonstration of what to do, very bad awareness about the rules of health and safety, etc.). In general, teachers of theoretical lessons had problems with specification of teaching aims, adequate use of teaching resources, effective closure of the lesson and evaluation of the students. All the teachers were glad for the feedback and they accepted all the recommendations. The last three days of the fourteen day stay in Cambodia the IEC participated in the selection of students for the project “ALFABET” of the FTA CULS Prague at the Royal University of Agriculture in Phnom Penh, i.e. the recommendation of BSc, MSc and PhD students and university teaching staff interested in studying at selected European universities involved in the project. For the first half of April 2016 three selected teachers of vocational subjects of King Norodom Sihamoni General and Technical High School came under the supervision of the FTA CULS Prague to participate in the study visit of the agricultural and educational institutions of the Czech Republic to gain new experience, knowledge and skills and to share them with their colleagues. The teachers were introduced e.g. the University Farm Estate in Lány (Central Bohemian Region) and the Botanical Garden of the FTA CULS Prague, etc. According to their specializations they attended practical workshops of selected departments of the Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources (FAFNR) CULS Prague. The IEC coordinated the activities dealing with the training of the teachers and with the demonstration of the examples of good practice in real conditions of secondary vocational schools. In the premises of the IEC


the Cambodian teachers were given workshops in the methodology of practical training, principles of health and safety rules and the effective use of teaching aids and educational technology. Within the project the Cambodians also visited several secondary vocational schools with vocational and agricultural specialization long-term cooperating with the IEC. In particular, they spent one day at Secondary School of Agriculture and Higher Professional School in Chrudim in the Pardubice Region, two days at Higher Professional School and Secondary School of Agriculture in Tábor in the South Bohemian Region and one day at Secondary School of Agriculture and Secondary Vocational School in Poděbrady in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. For example, after the welcome of the Cambodians at Higher Professional School and Secondary School of Agriculture in Tábor the headmaster discussed the general information about the school, various aspects relating to school management and introduced the interior of the school. The Cambodian teachers also participated in the theoretical lessons of vocational subjects such as Animal Husbandry and Crop Production and Plant Protection. Day 1 was concluded by the tour of the school botanical garden. The next day was focused on practical training and the teachers visited and experienced all the principles and aspects of practical training of the students at the school farm. I strongly believe that after the return of the Cambodians to their country they share their experience and recommendations for the development of vocational education in Cambodia not only with colleagues from their school but also with teachers from other secondary vocational schools of agricultural and technical specializations. For more information and pictures you can easily follow the progress of the project on Facebook (“Enhancement of Technical Education in Cambodia”).


Picture 1: The headmaster of King Norodom Sihamoni General and Technical High School with some of the teachers of vocational subjects and with the members of the project team

Picture 2: Giving the teacher of Crop Production the feedback based on the observation of her theoretical lesson


Picture 3: A workshop focused on methodology of theoretical lessons of vocational subjects

Picture 4: Observation of the theoretical lesson of Crop Production at Higher Professional School and Secondary School of Agriculture in Tábor


Picture 5: Guided visit of the botanical garden of Higher Professional School and Secondary School of Agriculture in Tábor

Picture 6: The headmaster of Higher Professional School and Secondary School of Agriculture in Tábor, Mrs Blažena Hořejší, explains the Cambodian teachers the daily routine and principles of the management of the school



PAPER SESSION


SYSTEMS THINKING IN AGRICULTURE LESSONS

EVA-MARIA ALFING Abstract The research project "system thinking in agriculture education" focuses on an approach to analyze and describe complex problematic situations as a part of learning processes. Agriculture is a field of economic activity characterized by the interaction of ecological, social and technical systems resulting in a wealth of nonlinear processes and emergent phenomena. This work aims as investigating whether system thinking can be fostered by the application of system oriented learning activities and methods in agricultural education. Systems thinking in agriculture lessons The research project “systems thinking in agriculture education” focuses on an approach to analyzing and describing complex problematic situations as a part of learning processes. Agriculture is a field of economic activity characterized by the interaction of ecological, social and technical systems resulting in a wealth of nonlinear processes and emergent phenomena. This work aims at investigating whether systems thinking can be fostered by the application of system oriented learning activities and methods in agriculture education. In 1992 the United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro decided that the idea of sustainability should implemented in education. A key feature of this idea is the development of sustainability competencies in education. The sustainability idea highlighted the relationship between economic, ecological and social competencies. These three competencies must be considered as part of a relationship rather than as a single competency. All three competencies are important for the development of the ‘sustainability competencies’ (Fischer, 2000: 1). The second key feature of sustainability concerns the need to conserve natural resources out of concern for the next generation (Fischer, 2000: 2). Though the sustainability debate has led to an explicit awareness of a problem in society, the student in school must learn how to use natural resources and how the economic, ecological and social competencies connect (Fischer, 2000: 2). Agriculture provides an example of the implementation of the sustainability idea. Agriculture can demonstrate how renewable resources such as wind and solar power may be used so that resources can be spared. In addition, farmers may use resource-conserving technologies, but they also have to work efficiently and ecologically, and must comply with the law. They therefore have to deal with and analyze different systems and solve the problems which may arise within the relationships between the systems and which have developed within systems (Pretty, 1995: 1247f.).


Systems thinking One method by which to use the sustainability idea is to develop systems thinking. Systems thinking is a concept used in problem solving, and an understanding of systems thinking requires the definition of the term system (Rubenstein-Montano et al., 2001: 6). A system is a set of elements that work together as part of a process or mechanism. It may consist of parts called subsystems, and systems thinkers analyze the relationship between these various parts (Rubenstein-Montano et al., 2001: 6). Each part of the system has boundaries and can exist as a single system. The parts are separated from the environment by these boundaries. The environment influences the system and this is important for problem solving which uses systems thinking.

Figure 1: The interaction between systems and subsystems in agriculture Source: A. M. Alfing, 2015, 43

Within the example of agriculture we can identify three different connected systems which interact with each other. They are a technical system, a social system and a biological system. The technical system in agriculture is characterized by machines like the farm tractor or machines used for cultivating plants. The family, employees and other people who work on the farm comprise the social system. The animals and plants are the biological system. Between all these systems we can examine a relationship. The agriculturist uses the tractor for the tillage and cultivation of plants. The plants are a biological system and they are the fodder for the animals. The agriculturist has to use the machines


economically and so has to organize his work and analyze the systems. He also has to conserve resources when he works on the field (Alfing, 2015: 42). Figure 1 shows the connections between the systems in agriculture. Furthermore the systems and subsystems influence the system itself. If something changes in one part of the system then this changes the whole system. The system therefore develops novel properties. Sometimes a system acquires a new emergent character and the processes in the system are not linear. The character of a system arises through feedback loops and it is through this that the system is stable (Lutterer, 2002: 55). Another aspect of systems thinking is knowledge about the complex and dynamic processes that mean that a problem can go from one part of the system to another part, without the problem actually being solved. Instead it is deferred in another part of the total system. Systems thinkers have to know about these phenomena when solving problems (Senge, 1997: 76). The habits of the systems thinker Everyone can develop the competence of systems thinking. Systems thinkers have the ability to look at a subject from another perspective. The character of a systems thinker is such that he firstly looks at the whole system when solving problems. Secondly, a systems thinker changes his perspective on the system so that he sees aspects from a different viewpoint. Furthermore, he considers connections in the system and he follows the changing relationships within the system. If a systems thinker changes something, he thinks about the duration of effect. The duration of effect can be short, medium or long, something which is important to know in problem solving. Before a systems thinker changes something he thinks about the outcome of his activity in a larger system. If his activity will lead to unwanted effects, he has to adjust it and control the impact. Through this optimization and restructuring, a system can develop. According to Bollmann-Zuberbühler et al. (2010) a systems thinker has eight different habits overall. In each situation a habit is more or less the focus of the problem solving (Bollmann-Zuberbühler et al., 2010: 15). All in all, systems thinking is defined as a network for identifying a cause-effect-relationship. A systems thinker does not regard phenomena in the system as isolated. He analyzes the relationship between the system and its elements, the duration of effects and the dynamics of the system. He also reflects on and interprets modifications in the system and draws conclusions on their impact (Alfing, 2015: 42). Systems thinking in school Systems thinking can be learned at school. For systems thinking you have to learn certain competencies. These competencies are learned using different methods such as mind mapping or drawing a functional chain, or methods in which you have to look from another perspective or where you have to draw a connection between systems and dynamics (Bollmann-Zuberbühler et al., 2010: 13f.). In addition, there are more methods than described above for learning systems thinking. One habit of systems thinking is change of perspective.


The trainees can learn this habit through the method of role playing. By taking on a different role, the learner can see the problem from a different perspective, thereby enabling understanding. Moreover, role play enhances the apprentices’ social competencies, thereby making society sustainable. They also witness interactions within the group and so they see the dynamics of a system by using the role play to problem solve (Kriz, 2003: 13). In the simulation method conversational situations are not in the foreground, but rather the interaction with the business and technical processes. In the simulation purposeful action and decision-making processes are in the foreground, because the actors can decide for themselves how the play should proceed. They must think about their decision, because they can change the relationship in the system with just one action. Likewise, by solving the problem they have to think about the resulting changes in the business and technical systems. They have to realize the consequences for the system of solving the problem and they have to think about alternative solutions (Kriz, 2003: 14f.). A method of developing the competence of systems thinking is to generate a loop depicting the system elements, because the elements in a functional chain can loop back on themselves. An example is the retention of water. It is controlled by sensors. These in turn influence hormone release, so that water is retained. The sensors regulate the water balance of the brain and the hormones (Bollmann-Zuberbühler, 2010: 13). Another method in systems thinking is computer simulation. However, the most famous example for evolving systems thinking with a computer simulation was that of the city of Lohhausen, by Dörner et al. (1983). In Lohausen a number of grievances prevailed, for example, against the fast-growing youth unemployment and the non-productivity of the factory. The subjects now had the task, as mayor of the city, to solve the problems. The PC program simulated ten years, so that the test person had time to solve the problems of the city. The test person had time to solve the problems in several sessions, with meetings held at intervals. Between meetings, the city changed as a result of the decisions that the test person had taken to solve the problems. There were always new problems that had been triggered by the decisions of the test person. Before the new session started the test person had time to reflect on the new situation in Lohhausen and on his decisions from the last session. The test person could only change something indirectly in the Lohhausen system. By the end of the experiment nobody had solved the problems of Lohhausen (Dörner et al., 1983: 105–114). The subjects had not solved the problem because a player cannot see all the parts of the system. Much of what the test person knows may be only superficial and undifferentiated and he cannot detect and track all relationships in the system. In attempting to solve the problem he may not have considered the relationship of the system elements and the momentum in the system (Dörner et al., 1983: 29ff.). The Lohhausen experiment was very complex and had many independent problems.


Developing the competence of systems thinking can help in attempting to solve problems such as those of the city of Lohhausen. Systems thinkers consider the dynamics of the system and the relationship of the elements because they learn that they have to pay attention to these in problem solving. Methods for developing systems thinking in agriculture vocational school In my study of systems thinking in an agriculture vocational school I used a model of competencies which encourage systems thinking. The model which I used was developed by Bräutigam et al. (2009). It describes three levels with different competencies. The first level gives a description of the system knowledge. The competencies which are developed at this level concern the characteristics of a system. For example, the learners should know that an overall system has subsystems and boundaries and they should know about interactions within the systems. The second level is the modelling of systems thinking. In this case there are five skills. One of these is the transfer of the situation from reality to a model. The learner also has to take the dynamics of the whole system into account. At the highest level, that means that he must recognize the implications of what he is doing when solving the problem. The learner must know the effect of the solution and foresee that an action can have several consequences. In addition, he has to explain the ramifications by using the model (Bräutigam, 2014: 84). For learning these skills in school some activity methods are required. Before I explain the various methods I designate the target of the research project “systems thinking in agriculture vocational education”. The question in the project is: how can systems thinking be encouraged in agriculture vocational education? An intervention study was performed in an attempt to answer this question. In one group the intervention was carried out and the control group continued to be conducted according to the teaching of a subject teacher without special methods for systems thinking. Before the intervention in agriculture education could be realized the groups had to take a pre-test. After the intervention both groups had to take a post-test. One can therefore check whether the systems thinking in the group could be promoted with intervention. The professional theme of the intervention is the interaction of nutrients and the feed-related diseases milk fever and grass tetany. Within the intervention there are methods for developing the competencies at all levels of the competence model. The method used at the beginning of the intervention is the snapshot method. Through this method, the agriculture apprentices see the whole system of the animal. Then a part of the system which they analyze in subsequent lessons is highlighted with a loop, so they see the whole system and the part in which they work in subsequent lessons. They therefore learn to look at the whole system by problem solving.


One method every teacher used in the lesson was mind mapping. Through the mind map the agriculture apprentices can learn the connection between the systems and can understand a large part of the whole system. They can also identify the interactions in the system. In agriculture education a mind map on the subject of animal production illustrates various systems such as housing, food-borne, illnesses and laws. All these systems interact with each other. In the intervention agriculture trainees draw a mind map and an interaction network about macronutrients. The aim is to recognize the interactions between nutrients. Through this method the learners develop the skill of describing models and the dynamics in a system. For example, too much iron prevents the absorption of zinc, but both iron and zinc are important elements for the body. Another example is phosphor. The animal needs phosphor for bone structure and for aspects of metabolism. A pig, for example, cannot absorb phytin phosphor well. It is excreted unused again. But if an artificial enzyme called phytase is added, the pig can absorb phosphorus and less reaches the environment. In the environment, phosphor is a problem, because it is poorly available and the fields are oversupplied with phosphorus through organic fertilization (Kirchgeßner, 2014: 186). Through the interaction of the elements the students can recognize how much of which element they must feed the animal to prevent deficiency symptoms from occurring. Furthermore, they can see the effects of an inadequate supply of macronutrients on the environment. The idea of sustainability is the protection of the environment and resources. This can be taught through the method of the interaction network. Another method which the learners in the intervention have to use is the drawing of a functional chain. For example, a cow often cannot mobilize enough calcium after the birth of a calf. The cow is suffering from milk fever. The trainees must draw a causal chain for the disease. The hallmark of a chain of effects is that more effect relationships take place in succession. These other elements influenced the system indirectly and the system was affected regardless of the starting position. Figure (2) shows a possible solution from a functional chain for the disease milk fever.


Figure 2: Functional chain of milk fever Source: E. M. Alfing

The functional chain method is devised to help trainees develop the competence to describe models and meet forecasts, because they have to know that one cause can have a string of consequences. Moreover, the learners have to transfer an extract of the reality into a functional chain, so they can explain the interaction in the whole system. A typical method for develop systems thinking is to draw an extending chart. Here the learners discern the modification of the system and the elements, because it changes over time. An example in the intervention is the nutrient content in the grass in the meadow during the year. In the intervention described above there is no use of computer simulation, because the technique often does not work reliably in school and not all schools have enough PCs for each person to implement the method precisely. The intervention was performed in agriculture vocational schools. The exact results of the study will follow in the coming months. It is expected that the competence of systems thinking was encouraged by the intervention. However, differences between the participating schools are anticipated, because interviews with the teachers involved have suggested that some trainees had a problem with drawing a functional chain or with other aspects of the intervention. Despite this, the apprentices were all in all very interested in developing systems thinking using different methods.


Conclusion Returning to the theme of agriculture, we can see that it is also a complex and interdependent system. We must learn to deal with this complexity. So it is important that the agriculture apprentice develops the skills of systems thinking. Furthermore, by implementing systems thinking they can help save the environment and natural resources and thereby accomplish the sustainability idea. If agriculture apprentices evolve systems thinking they can look to another method of solving problems and they also have the knowledge that problems cannot be solved by one solution. Sometimes they have to rethink their solution and consider an alternative. By problem solving they can observe the duration of an action and so they can think about the best solution to the problem. This paper describes some of the methods used for devising systems thinking in agriculture vocational education and the habits of a systems thinker. It is recommended that the traditional teaching model in agriculture vocational education should be changed and agriculture apprentices should learn systems thinking so they get an overview of the complex agriculture system and learn to deal with it. The project “systems thinking in agriculture education” is an intervention to promote systems thinking in agriculture vocational education. Literature, references: Alfing, E. M. (2015) ‘Systemisches Denken im agraren Fachunterricht als wichtige Voraussetzung zur Förderung der Problemlösekompetenz bei Auszubildenden’, Berufsbildung. Zeitschrift für Praxis und Theorie, in Betrieb und Schule, Vol. 69, No. 154, pp. 42–44. Bräutigam, J.; Vogel, A.; Nerb, J.; Rieß, W. (2009) ‘Systemisches Denken im Umgang mit Natur als Element der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung’, in Tagungsband der FDdB/VBIO-Tagung, Kiel: IPN, pp. 112–114. Bräutigam, J. (2014) Systemisches Denken im Kontext einer Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. Konstruktion und Validierung eines Messinstruments zur Evaluation einer Unterrichtseinheit, Freiburg: Pädagogische Hochschule, PhD-Thesis. Bollmann-Zuberbühler, B.; Frischknecht-Tobler, U.; Kunz; P.; Nagel, U.; Wilhelm Hamiti, S. (2010) Systemdenken fördern. Systemtraining und Unterrichtsreihen zum vernetzten Denken, Bern: Schulbuchverlag Plus. Dörner, D.; Kreuzig, H.; Reither, F.; Stäudel, T. (1983) Lohhausen: Vom Umgang mit Unbestimmtheit und Komplexität, Bern: Hans Huber. Fischer, A. (2000) Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung im sozial- und wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Unterricht (Einleitung), [online], Available: http://www.sowi-online.de/nachhaltigkeit/einl.htm [23.03.2015]. Kirchgeßner, M. (Hrsg.) (2014) Tierernährung. 14. Aufl., Frankfurt a. Main: DLG-Verl. Kriz, C. (2003) ‘Mit Planspielmethoden Systemkompetenz entwickeln’, in Wirtschaftspsychologie aktuell, No. 1, pp. 12–17. Lutterer, W. (2002) Gregory Bateson. Eine Einführung in sein Denken, Heidelberg: Carl-Auer.

http://www.sowi-online.de/nachhaltigkeit/einl.htm%20%5b23.03.2015


Pretty, J. (1995) ‘Participatory Learning For Sustainable Agriculture’ in World development, Vol. 23, No. 8, pp. 1247–1263. Rubenstein-Montano, B.; Liebowitz, J.; Buchwalter, J.; McCaw, D.; Newman, B.; Rebeck, K.; The Knowledge Management Methodology Team. (2001) ‘A systems thinking framework for knowledge management’, in Decision Support Systems, Vol. 31, pp. 5–16. Senge, P. M. (1997) Die fünfte Disziplin. Kunst und Praxis der lernenden Organisationen, 4. Aufl., Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.


MOTIVATING STUDENT WITH A POWERFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND A GROWTH MINDSET

MARIJE BIJMA-PASMA

Introduction This paper is about how to motivate students in their first year in the secondary school. I did a study about this subject commissioned by my Master SEN (Special Education Needs) study. The goal of this study was to motivate students at Biology because in their first year students start really excited and enthusiastic, but after the Christmas holiday break the students are less motivated. In springtime the motivation has really gone. In order to find out how to motivate the students I interviewed thirty first year students and did a literature study. After this I designed an experiment, discussed this experiment with experts, redesigned the experiment and tested it. Background This study took place at Lauwers College, a secondary school in the North of the Netherlands. This school has a regional function and provides education to 1100 students in the age from 12 till 18 years old. The school provides three types of education, VMBO, HAVO and VWO. Education in the Netherlands starts when a child reaches the age of 4. At that time the child has to go to school and starts at the elementary school for eight years. Based on the advice of the elementary school and the grades from the elementary school the pupil and its parents make a choice for the type of education they will attend at the secondary school (Government, 2016).

Figure 1 The Dutch educational system Figure 1: The Dutch educational system


In their first year of education at Lauwers College students starts with fresh energy, after the Christmas holiday the motivation decreases and so are the grades. It’s important to get good grades because each student has to score certain grades to maintain education at the current type. Students who fail to get good grades have to go to a lower type of education at the end of the schoolyear. To many students switching to a lower type of education is negative for a school because the government aims schools to have students at the level they were advised to from the elementary school (Inspection of education, 2016). This means the school has interest in keeping the students motivated so they keep getting good grades. To get good grades a student needs proper education, which is given by teachers. Teachers have interest in students being motivated, because motivated students interrupt lessons less and they show les misbehaviour. Misbehaving students make classroom management a struggle for both teachers as beginning teachers and are related to dissatisfaction about teaching and early exit from teaching (Sullivan, Johnson, Owens & Conway, 2014). The problem occurs with all subjects, but this study focuses on the subject Biology, because the researcher teaches this subject. Students start enthusiastic with Biology in their first year because it speaks to their imagination. In elementary school they have had some lessons in nature which used to be about animals, the seasons and the environment. In secondary school Biology focusses on subjects which have a relation to Biology. The definition of Biology is ‘Study of all that lives’ (Passier, a. o., 2007). The first year focusses on nature and the human body. They will learn about trees, leaves, bees, flowers, the human skeleton, organs and their functions and ranking of all the living species. The current lessons of Biology are classical lessons where the teacher gives explanation about the topic while the students take notes. After the explanation the students will practice with exercises in their workbook. During the explanation unmotivated students are sleeping on the table, talking before their turn, drawing doodles or even building paper planes. It is important to keep the student motivated so it will have a good chance in absorbing the explanation. This means they will see get the new information about the topic three times, but it is not very motivating In summary, motivating students is important for the student itself so it gets engaged into learning. It is important for the teacher because motivated students means better classroom management, higher grades and less misbehaviour. For the schoolboard less unmotivated students means more students can continue their schooling on the same degree as they have started on after elementary school. The main question during this study was: How to motivate students during the Biology lessons in their first year of secondary school. Theoretical framework Motivation is based on internal and external factors which stimulate desire and energy in people to stay focused, interested and committed to a task or to reach a goal. So in order to get students motivated for a subject it is


necessary to stimulated them and to keep them focused and interested. In order to answer the question how to keep them interested and focused we will take a closer look to the brain of the student. At the age of 12, when they’re in their first year, the brain of the student is still developing. The human brain is under construction until the 25th year of life. Until this time the human brain is mapping itself and constructing new connections for quick transport of the information (Jolles, 2012). The brain development of each individual takes place in the same order and way but in it is own pace, this makes the differences between the students sometimes even bigger. No matter how far the development is, the human brain is always open to curiosity. Curiosity is one key to motivation because it stimulates the brain to make new connections between already existing knowledge and skills and the just learned knowledge or skills. The second key is emotion, when you get emotional involved with a new skill or knowledge the brain will even process the new skill or knowledge faster (Jolles, 2012). Through the emotion the brain gets activated to use old connection and to make new faster connection so recalling the skill or knowledge gets even easier. Jolles (2012) named this way of learning, brain learning. It is important to place the new skills or knowledge in a context. This context makes it easier to the brain of the student to place it and to make new connections (Jolles, 2012). Besides the brain the student needs to know the context of the new skills or knowledge. What does he know already about this and why is it necessary to learn about it. Activating the already existing knowledge makes it easier to combine the old and the new and gives the student self-confidence (Stevens, 2004). Luc Stevens (2004) states there are three things that need to be present before a student can be motivated to learn. Relationship, competence and autonomy. It is important for a student to feel connected to the class, he needs the feeling to be an important part of the group. Students also need a positive relationship with their teachers. Because the teacher is the one who creates the learning environment. It is necessary for a student to feel competent by knowing that he already has the skills of knowledge to finish this new task (Clark, 2002). At last it is important for a student to finish the task with the feeling ‘I can do this myself’ this feeling gives a student the autonomy and the feeling of respect from others. This three things need to be in balance to get the student motivated. The key in turning on the learning process is the teacher, without a teacher no relation between the student and teacher and no one to stimulate and guide the learning. The best teacher would be an excellent teacher because an excellent teacher knows how each individual student learns and how to guide and stimulate this student (Hattie, 2003). Hattie (2003) defined the five characteristics of an excellent teacher. An excellent teacher:

1. Knows the essence of the subject and can adjust this to the level and needs of the student.

2. Has interaction with the students and creates involvement from the students in the lessons.


3. Has an overview of the development of each student and gives it

feedback targeting growth of the student. 4. Has a good positive relation with the students. 5. Has influence on the grades of the students by setting high, but

reachable, goals. By setting goals which are high but reachable the student will be owner of its own learning process and the student will feel self-confident by reaching the goals. Hattie (2003) and Stevens (2004) agree on this with each other.

Carol Dweck (2006) has done research about mindset. She figured there is a fixed mindset, this mindset is stuck. Someone with this mindset believes for example that talent is given and cannot be trained. Dweck (2006) also discovered there is another mindset, the so called growth mindset. Someone with a growth mindset believes that talent can be trained to a certain level. Teachers who give feedback with a growth mindset will give feedback about the process the student is showing and not about the results. Hypothesis Based on the theoretical framework I estimate that by using teaching methods in which students do more practical tasks and work in peers they can be activated for learning by a teacher who develops a powerful learning environment and gives positive feedback targeting growth. A so called powerfull learning environment is an environment in which a student has the freedom to learn independently in his own pace and from a curiosity with peers, but at the same time has systematically coaching from a teacher. The teacher has eye for the individual possibilities and needs of each students (De Corte, 1990). Method The data for the first part of this study was gathered by doing interviews with thirty first year students. The meaning of doing this interviews was to develop a series of lessons with motivating activities as an experiment. The experiment focusses also on teacher behaviour to motivate the students at the Biology lessons. After developing an experiment the design of this experiment was discussed with five educational experts for counsel and adjusted to their feedback. The experiment is held in April 2015 and included an experiment group and a control group. The experiment group was the group who got the series of lessons with motivating activities. The control group did follow the lessons as usually (Baarda, 2014). After this month both groups made a test about the chapter which was thought during this experiment. Student interviews The student interviews focussed on the question ‘What makes learning motivating for you?’ This interviews are held with solution-oriented approach (Bannink, 2013). This approach focusses on the positive experience and the solution. The four most called answers solution where:


work in peers;

work in groups of four students;

less instruction, more practical lessons;

use digital devices during the lessons. Experiment Based on the theoretical framework and the interviews with the students an experiment was designed. The experiment focusses on so called brain learning and a teacher giving feedback with a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006). This means feedback on the process not on the result and feedback to stimulate the growth of the student in his learning process. The experiment is designed for the chapter ‘flowers, fruits and seeds.’ During the experiment the students will work in peers and groups, will use the internet on their smartphones and will learn by discovering themselves. In order to make the experiment work the teacher has developed activating teaching methods matching with the chapter. During the experiment the workbook and textbook where not leading. The lessons where designed around the goals from the textbook. The way to achieve this goal was with activating teaching methods. The students did only use the textbook during this experiment to check their findings. In order to achieve the goal of the textbook the students did practical research. For example one of the goals was ‘The students name the different components and their function of a daffodil.’ To achieve this goal the students got a daffodil, a knife, a cutting mat and drawing materials. Drawing is one of the main practical competences in biology. The students were working in peers. And they had to cut the daffodil in half, make a drawing of the inside of the daffodil and search for the different parts and their functions on the internet on their smartphone. At the end of the lesson the goal of the lesson was classical checked by the teacher and the student discussed their finding with each other. They made notes in their notebook about the right components of the daffodil and their functions. To check if the students have reached the goal of the lesson and to monitor their process, they are asked to write down to questions for a test they will make in the middle of the month. This was one of the suggestions of the experts. By using this method a teacher can easily monitor the process of each student. During the lessons the teacher was coaching all the peers in a positive way and providing structure to the boys. Boys need structure in education and they need to know what they need to do, otherwise they are most likely to expose misbehaviour (Jolles, 2009). Structure is also important because this new way of education can make students insecure, and the teacher needs to guide them. One of the experts stated that a structure of this lessons are the most important. This means there has to be a clear start with a goal, a part where the students can do the practical work and where the goal of the lesson will be checked. This structure is used in all the lessons of the experiment. In the first lesson all students got seeds from a sunflower. It is their task to take care of the seeds and make it grow. The student with the highest sunflower after two months wins a price. This exercise is to connect


the learning in the lessons to the life at home (Stevens, 2004). One of the experts added this exercise to it, especially to keep also the boys motivated. Expert interviews The experts were enthusiastic about this project because a lot of the teachers have to cope with unmotivated students. Two subjects kept coming back in the interviews, they were the importance of a rich context and the key position of the teacher. Both are part of the experiment. The suggestions the experts made about a task for at home and about the test questions are added to the experiment. Results After a month the control group and the experiment group had to make both the same standard test about the chapter ‘Flowers, fruits and seeds.’ The average grade on the experiment group was a 7,5 and of the control group a 6,5. This is only one of the results. During the lessons of the experiment group all students were motivated, they didn’t misbehave and because of the feedback from a growth mindset the students were able to learn on their own level. An example of the feedback from a growth mindset was when a girl had troubles to set up the microscope in the right way. The teacher gave feedback on what she already had done and addressed it as ‘you are on your way, but we have not reached the goal yet. You are learning, so this is not bad. Let’s see what you have done already and we will go from there.’ A few minutes later she managed to set the microscope up in the right way. This made her feel self-confident and proud of herself. One of the students diagnosed with PDD-NOS was working hard and motivated during the lessons of the experiment. Usually the teacher has to remind him of his task every ten minutes, but during this lessons he was motivated and able to work with his peers on the tasks. The peers had the task to help their groupmate in this case, but it worked. In the experiment group were also tree students with ADHD, all tree of this students need structure in their lessons (Lieshout, 2009). The structure provided in this lessons was enough for them. The peer students helped them with the activities and the practical activities gave this students a possibility to walk or move more than in regular lessons. The students also learned from each other and some of them did some research just out of curiosity. Two students discovered what happens if you look closely at the inside of a daffodil under a microscope and zoom in as close as possible. They shared their drawings of the inside of the daffodil with the whole class and explained what they had seen under the microscope. Conclusion and discussion The main conclusion after this experiment and study is that a teacher is the key to motivating students. The teacher can be a key by designing activating teaching methods and practical exercises, but even more


important is the coaching and feedback of the teacher. Without a teacher there is no complete powerful learning environment. After doing this experiment I am almost certain the teacher is the fuel for a good learning process. And I guess the unmotivated students are like engines which are getting the wrong fuel. As teachers we will have to take a closer look at the way we encourage students and give them feedback during the learning process. The experiment was also about creating the powerful learning environment with motivating lessons. It won’t be possible to design all the lessons this way because it takes a lot of time and creativity of the teacher and not all of the knowledge can be transferred by doing. Some knowledge still needs a (mostly) classical instruction and exercise. Classical instruction is not a bad thing, but can be one of the methods used during teaching. And using both classical instruction lessons as working with practical lessons can motivate the students. In this way it will not get dull and the students will have variety in the kind of lessons they get. Of course there are more influencing factors on the motivation of students, this means not all motivating problems are solved by teaching from a powerful learning environment and from a growth mindset. The next thing will be to share the outcome of this experiment and to awaken a discussion about powerful learning and a growth mindset within the school. Literature, references: Books Baarda. B. (2014) Research. This is it!, Groningen/Houten: Noordhoff uitgevers bv. Bannink, F. (2013) Oplossingsgerichte vragen. Handboek oplossingsgerichte gespreksvoering, Amsterdam: Pearson. Clark, B. (2002) Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at home and at school. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. Dweck, C. (2006) Mindset. London, The United Kingdom: Constable & Robinson. Lieshout, T. van. (2009) Pedagogische adviezen voor speciale kinderen. Houten, Nederland: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum. Passier, R., Smits, G., Waas, B., Waterschoot – de Bock, M, van. (2007) Biologie voor jou Handboek VMBO KGT,’s Hertogenbosch: Malmberg. Stevens, L. (2004) Zin in School, Amersfoort: CPS. Articles: De Corte, E. (1990) ‘Ontwerpen van krachtige leeromgevingen’. in M.J. Ippel & J.J. Elshoudt (Eds.), Training van hogere-orde denkprocessen. Bijdragen aan de onderwijsresearch. (pp. 133-147), Amsterdam: Lisse; Swets & Zeitlinger. Hattie, J.’ (2003) ‘Teachers Make a Difference. What is the research evidence?, in Australian Council for Educational Research. University of Auckland.


Jolles, J. (2012) ‘Talentontwikkeling; de leerkracht en het lerende kind vanuit neuropsychologisch perspectief’, in Platform PABO, No 20, pp. 3 -5 Jolles, J. (2009) ‘Overstap naar brugklas nekt veel jongens’, Trouw, 24-10-2009. Sullivan, A.M., Johnson, B., Owens, L., & Conway, R. (2014) ‘Punish them or engage them? Teachers Views of Unproductive Student Behaviours in the Classroom’. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39 (6). Internet: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Netherlands, accessed at April the 2th. Dutch inspection of Education, http://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/toezicht/hoe-gaat-de-inspectie-te-werk, accessed at April the 2th Dutch Government, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/toelating-middelbare-school/inhoud/toelating-voortgezet-onderwijs-gebaseerd-op-schooladvies, accessed at April the 2th

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Netherlands

http://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/toezicht/hoe-gaat-de-inspectie-te-werk

http://www.onderwijsinspectie.nl/toezicht/hoe-gaat-de-inspectie-te-werk

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/toelating-middelbare-school/inhoud/toelating-voortgezet-onderwijs-gebaseerd-op-schooladvies




THE USE OF PROJECT BASED EDUCATION IN HIGHER GREEN PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

JOHAN BIJZEN

Abstract In vocational education we want to stimulate two things at the same time: growth in professional and academic disciplines and growth in collaborative and communicative skills for our students. One way to combine these two is in using project based education in our curriculum. Students learn with the help of realistic or artificial projects for customers in and outside the school. To facilitate this form of learning is quite intensive: customers and projects need to be found, principles of project management, communication and collaboration should be a part of the curriculum and (integrated) learning objectives should be formulated. Teachers have to combine different roles: being qualified for their discipline and capable as a coach. Intensive means time and money needed. For that it is needed that the use of project education is the best possible. Key words Project based education, projectmanagement, learning strategies, higher green professional education. Introduction The author is teacher at the Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Sciences. Johan Bijzen teaches projectmanagement and educational sciences. He coordinates the module “Organisation and Cooperation”. This module is based on the principle of project based education. Projectmanagement is still – anno 2016 - very popular in Dutch society. The use of this way of working started in the seventies of the last century in the building sector. Later on it became popular in the ict and in policy development and policy research. And since 15 years principals of projectmanagement are introduced in project based education in (green, vocational) education. The main principals of projectmanagement are:

1. phased decision making; 2. integral control of time, money, documentation and quality; 3. interdisciplinairy collaboration in project groups; 4. division of tasks between the customer and the projectgroup and

between the different groupmembers.

A lot of books, courses and seminars are published and organised the last 35 years to support the introduction of projectmanagement in business and in government. Consultants help organisations and their workers with


the introduction. Remarkably we did not see a specific help with the introduction of projectmanagement in project based education. In my opinon the use of projectmanagement in project based education is different – in some way more complicated - from the use of projectmanagement in general. In education students have to grow in their discipline, their communicative and cooperative skills and in their learning capacities; all in the same time. Besides the main principals of projectmanagement there are several special conditions to take care for when you want to use successfully projectmanagement in education:

5. students differ in development, gender, professional direction and professional development, characters, social background, learning strategies and motivation to work together;

6. students have to practice what they already know and can do; and at the same time they have to gain new knowledge, new skills and new learning strategies;

7. meaning of the assessments of what students deliver and how they worked and learned (together).

The last five years I worked on the introduction and improvement of project based education for the Stoas Practical University for our first year fulltime bachelor students. I will describe our experiences with projectmanagement in higher professional education based on these seven aspects of projectmanagement in project based education. Characterization of our first year fulltime students. They have two different backgrouds: almost 50 % of our first year students come from general secondary education, aged around 17 or 18 years old. They have more general knowledge and less or no specific green knowledge and skills. A little more than 50 % of our first year students attended (green) vocational education, aged around 20 or 22 years old. They have more specific green knowledge and skills and less general knowledge. The module “Organisation and cooperation” (project based education) is compulsory for all students in the second half of the first year. Our experiences with this module

1. Phased decision making. We use six phases: initiative, definition, design, preparation, realization and aftercare. At the end of each phase they write a document and they need the approval of their customer and their teacher of Stoas to continue with the next phase. Phase of decision making is part of our program.

2. Integral control. We teach different tools of projectmanagement they must use in their own project.

3. Interdisciplinary collaboration. Two months before the start we organise a “project market”. Possible customers are invited and students look around for a suitable assignment and customer. At the same time they look for other groupmembers and form a projectgroup of 4 or 5 students. Customers are entrepeneurs in the green sector,


local government, vocational schools or NGO’s like World Wildlife Fund.

4. Division of tasks. The Group starts with finding out the interpretation and demarcation of the assignment. For that they need the input of the customer (phase of initiative and definition). During the phase of design they make a division of tasks between the group members.

5. Composition of the project groups. Students are free in choosing their own groupcomposition. They choose students they like, students with the same discipline and/or students with a different discipline.

6. We teach students in projectmanagement, communicative and cooperative skills and in statistics. They get no lessons in their own profession or discipline. On Friday they follow the lessons and they have contact with their tutor and their expert. On Wednesday they work with the projectgroup (and when needed with the customer) on their project.

7. Teachers of Stoas assess the content of the projectreport, the way of using the method and tools of projectmanagement of each projectgroup and we assess individually the way they communicate and cooperate. Customers have to approve the projectreport.

Table 1: Examples of projects for the module “Organisation and Cooperation”

Title Short description Customer

Course on insects Develop a course on insects for a local organisation

IVN, local department of the Institute for Nature Studies

From a regular farming to organic farming

Research for a change for a big poultry farm

Entrepeneur

A butterfly- and flower garden

Design and management plan of a butterfly- and flower garden

Vocational school

Our successes with this module During the last five years we had the following results:

95 % of the students finish this module in time – after five months - and with good results.

Each year we find more than enough potential customers for the “project market”; and students have a broad choice in potential projects.

Apart from the “project market” students come more and more with own projectproposals and customers.

When we start in the beginning of february more than 90 % of the students is member of a projectgroup and they have found a customer and a project(proposal).

Customers and students evaluate this module positive.


Challenges Looking back and forward we see the following challenges

Six phases, and corresponding six documents, one for each phase is too much for our students in a period of 16 weeks. They spend too much time in documentation the first 6 weeks of the project. The more time they need for documentation of the project the less time they can use for the content of the project and their reflection. In other situations practical universities work with three phases in their way of projectmanagement: First phase of orientation and global defininition, second phase of analysis and plan of action; third and last phase of implementation and final product.

The content and position of the teaching and the roles of the teachers. Teachers in this module have to act in six positions or roles: knowledge transferor, instructor for tools of projectmanagement, expert in the content of the project, coach for groupdynamical aspects and individual development, assessor for the content and the way of working with projectmanagement; assessor for the personal evaluation and reflection. We demand of each teacher to perform all these six roles. Although most of the teachers for this module work for it for several years, for the majority it is difficult to perform all these different roles. In general we have teachers more for the professional and academic disciplines and teachers more for educational sciences, groupdynamics and personal development. To be effective as a teacher in projecteducation you need to possess qualifications in both directions.

We only assess the content of the project, the way of using the methodology and instruments of projectmanagement and the communicating and cooperating skills. We do not assess the (growth) in their discipline and in their learning strategies.

Opportunities for improvement To take full advantage of using project based education in higher professional education four aspects are relevant:

1. methodology and tools of projectmanagement 2. communicating and cooperating skills 3. knowledge and skills of the student’s discipline(s) 4. learning strategies of the students.

In our curriculum we give attention mainly to the first two aspects; it is easy to find applicable and known methods of projectmanagement and of communicating and cooperating theory and skills. Teachers are familiar with it. We do not know nor follow how our students use and develop their knowledge in their discipline. And we have no idea about the learningstrategies and workstrategies they use or which they develop. We asked 10 students from two existing projectgroups with a mixed composition (vocational education and general secondary education) about


their learning strategies. For each of the following learning strategies they could score themselves from 1 (low competent) to 5 (high competent). Table 2: Selfevaluation of learning strategies of students

Students with Vocational education General secondary education

Analyzing 3 5

Structure 2 4

Select 4 4

Critical thinking 2 5

Relate 4 3

Concretise 3 3

Personalize 4 3

Apply 5 2

The students with a vocational background score themselves more competent on the practical learning strategies and the students with a general secondary education background score themselves more competent on the abstract learning strategies. They recognize these differences in the way they work; and these differences can frustrate the the groupcooperation. More learning strategies and discipline in project based education It would make this module more effective when we are succesfull in expliciting the differences in learning strategies of our students. And secondly when we can stimulate the students to learn from each other’s learning strategies. For that it is desired to explicite the learning strategies related to the student’s use and developing of their discipline. Literature, references: Wijnen, G. Renes, W. Storm, P. (2001) Projectmatig werken, Utrecht: Het Spectrum. Boekaerts, M. Simons, P.R.J. (1995) Leren en instructive, Assen: Van Gorcum. Holten van, M. Vliet van, R. (2009) Projectonderwijs in het hbo de docent als projectontwikkelaar en projectbegeleider, Houten: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum.


SMALL VIRTUAL BUILDING SITE – WRITTEN EXAMINATION FOR MEASURING OF COMPETENCIES

DETLEF HAß

Abstract Within a PhD project at Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute for Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin a "small virtual building site" was developed as the basis for a written examination to measure and evaluate the acquisition of competencies in the training for landscape gardeners. It was tested and scientifically evaluated in six horticultural vocational schools in Germany. The data presented here illustrate that work in the "domains of learning" delivers a contribution to interdisciplinary training. The trans-disciplinary collaboration influences the curriculum methodically contributing to competency development of apprentices. The design of the examination task of "small virtual building site" is furthermore integrated into the context of the European Qualifications Framework of competency and output orientation. Introduction After the European institutions having passed the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (EQF) in 2008 and with the national qualification framework for lifelong learning based on competencies questions regarding the development of action-oriented and competency-oriented teaching and learning arrangements of apprentices have gained increasing importance. The author of this paper has taken this as an opportunity to scientifically examine the development of vocational action competency with regard to vocational training in gardening by applying the concept of learning areas. He concentrated on the training as a landscape gardener. “In teaching-learning arrangements the exact description of the occupation-practical situation and the issuing of real assignments combine action-orientation and competency-orientation. […] Vocational action-competency is shown by means of actions, which for their part are triggered by individual complex learning and working situations. The apprentices must make use of their vocational capacity to act and must simultaneously show their ability regarding vocational flexibility in profession-typical situations” (Haß 2016: 103). The “small virtual building site” is no real building site, but simulates a building site which is as profession-typical as possible. This means that apprentices do not practically work on this building site, but solve the problem theoretically in writing (with paper and pencil) on the level of professional activities. The “small virtual building site” is designed as a paper-and-pencil-test to check the competency development of the


apprentices. It is compatible to the idea of EQF, since here the apprentice shows knowledge, skills and competency as per the principles of EQF. Within the frame of this scientific research 281 apprentices of six horticultural vocational schools in Germany took the challenge of this examination. Working in the concept of learning areas According to the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal German Countries (KMK) the concept of learning areas does not present independent didactics in the sense of a scientifically founded theory and practice of vocational learning. However, it does support action-oriented learning in the vocational training school “focussing on holistic learning referring to working and business processes” (KMK 2011: 32). This is how the concept of learning areas was compulsorily introduced for all new and newly to be organized professions in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1996. Instead of a traditional subject classification system and the respective specific technical disciplines vocational fields of action of a profession to be learned are the basis of curricular considerations which are shown in the framework curricula for vocational training in vocational schools in form of learning areas. The following figure 1 defines fields of action, learning areas, learning situations as well as learning assignments and shows their respective interrelation.

Figure 1: Interaction between activity areas and learning areas as well as learning situations and learning assignments (Haß 2016: 53)


The targets and content of the learning areas derive from analyses of typical occupational areas of activities. Which areas of activities are selected for the lessons depends on genuine assignments of the professional practice. Due to this practical orientation the apprentices do not only learn to act independently even in complex situations in the sense of comprehensive action competency but are also qualified for lifelong learning. They understand the sense and the possibilities of application of their achieved knowledge and acquired competencies in an easier way, since their lessons are immediately connected to the respective professional experiences and problems of the apprentices. Simultaneously most apprentices show an increased motivation to learn due to the self-controlled, independent learning and the activity-orientation of their lessons (Haß 2016: 201f.). Implementation in Teaching-Learning Arrangements Implementation is done in teaching-learning arrangements. The respective educational material is developed, worked out and provided for these arrangements. Interesting and practice-relevant learning situations, scenarios as well as assignments cause the apprentices to start learning from and by means of various media. This also applies to the “small virtual building site”: A scenario is described as practice-oriented starting situation, from which various assignments are derived. In this connection one speaks of multiple-situation tasks. Starting situation In cooperation with the association of gardening, landscaping and sportsground building your training enterprise takes part in a regional educational exhibition lasting for some days. The common stand in hall 2 consists of an information booth, which is organized by the advisor for recruitment of young professionals; furthermore, the booth features a small landscape-gardening building site, which corresponds to the level of a practical final examination. Today the landscape-gardening jobs are done by you and another apprentice in the second year of training. The master has provided you with the only “key existing on the exhibition ground” to lock up the levelling device. Assignments

1. Select the relevant tools and devices at the training company which are necessary to do your job at the planned small building site. Note them down.

2. Make a scale sketch of the section A-B and state the heights necessary for construction.

3. Determine all necessary work steps for the landscape-gardening related jobs of the small building site in chronological (time-related) order. Note them down in detail.

4. Calculate the material requirement of the materials necessary on the small building site (building materials and plants). Note down how


you arrived at the answer for the amounts regarding the marked materials.

The apprentices take the point of view of the landscape gardener described in the starting situation putting themselves into the working situation of the landscape gardener. They are directly addressed by the multiple-situation assignments and start with their activities. Solving the assignments 1-4 calls for expert knowledge and cognitive skills in the context of profession-typical ways of procedure in case of landscape-gardening jobs. Assignments for the determination of self-competency and social competencies are indispensable with regard to the competency development of apprentices. That is why the starting situation is extended in form of case situations. Now overall competencies among other with regard to sense of responsibility and independence on behalf of the apprentice become necessary for solving the assignments 5-8. Assignments (continued)

1. While you are cutting paving bricks to size with an angle grinder (cut-off grinder) an employee of the fair organization addresses you. “Stop making that much noise and dirt immediately” he yells at you. Red-faced and with a loud voice he continues asking: “What kind of a mess is that? Everything is lying around. Do you have any idea how the visitors of the exhibition may pass your building site without any problems?“ – “That’s the way we always work”, you snarl back, without even looking at the employee of the fair. After that you keep murmuring a few words to yourself, which the other person does not understand. You have made several mistakes. What kind of behaviour is correct? Answer in complete sentences.

2. Your apprentice colleague in the second year of training is explaining the levelling device to a group of pupils. For this purpose, he has installed and adjusted the device. Now he is explaining the way of reading the measuring stick. You are watching the presentation and notice that your colleague does not explain the reading process correctly. What will you do? Describe and explain your behaviour in complete sentences.

3. A lady has been watching your building activities full of interest for some time. Out of a sudden she addresses you: “That’s a wonderful profession you have. I wonder if this might be the right profession for my son, who is going to finish school in summer.” You interrupt your activities, put the tools aside to start talking to the lady. Which personal qualities are necessary for this profession? Describe four professional situations to the lady, which clearly show these qualities.

4. The day at the exhibition is over. You are standing in front of your door, taking your key out of your pocket, when suddenly the “exhibition key” falls to the ground. This is the key which locks


the room where the levelling device and the small tools are kept. You were supposed to have left this key on the fair ground. Tomorrow you are not assigned to the education fair, and there is only one such key. You are having an appointment about 20 minutes later. Describe and explain how you will react in this situation.

Now the apprentices resort to formal, non-formal and informal overall competencies (self-related, and respectively, social-related skills) that must be used here in a profession-specific context. This is how the concept of the “small virtual building site” is oriented towards EQF-level 3 (see table 1). Table 1: Descriptor level 3 (EC 2008)

Knowledge Skills Competency

Knowledge of facts, principles, processes and general concepts, in a field of work or study

A range of cognitive and practical skills required to accomplish tasks and solve problems by selecting and applying basic methods, tools, materials and information

Take responsibility for completion of tasks in work or study; adapt own behaviour to circumstances in solving problems

Contribution to Inter-Disciplinary Training The orientation towards genuine problems and assignments of the vocational practice supports the development of professional action competency of apprentices. If the landscape gardener apprentices want to show the knowledge and cognitive skills listed in table 2, this will simultaneously require the teachers to provide interdisciplinary teaching. Table 2: Survey on required knowledge, cognitive skills and competencies (Collection: Haß)

Knowledge Skills Competency (cognitive)

e.g. e.g. e.g. Surveying technology Visualisation and

drawing theory Ground work Drainage work Road construction and

paving Wood construction Wood use Planting Lawn building

Technical understanding

Organization of work Computational ability Construction know-

how Vegetation-related

understanding Knowledge of plants

Power of imagination

Identification Problem solving

skills Decision-making

ability Sensibility Sense

of responsibility Independence


The basis for this system is the common involvement of teachers for various subjects:

building site administration (organization, implementation and administration of the building site; selection of machines, devices and tools);

business operations (business-economic thinking, consideration of environment and sustainability, observation of guidelines regarding safety and health protection);

drawing theory (knowing of plan symbols, reading of top views, presentation of cross sections);

building technology (execution of surveying, road construction and paving, drainage and wood-related work);

vegetation technology (execution of ground work, planting, lawn building, use of woody plants);

maths (calculation of areas and earthwork, distance measurement, angular measurement, position measurement, height measurement, calculation of material requirement);

german/communication (understanding of work assignments and position texts, using of the appropriate terminology, proper phrasing, orthographically correct writing).

On this basis the “best possible frame conditions for an active appropriation process of the learning person are to be created” (Bräuer 2004: 15):

target (common educational mission, common pedagogic concept, common teaching concept);

content (willingness to cooperation, waiving of personal interests, waiving of specific contents, responsibility for partial processes);

method (communication skill, team building and to team-teaching);

conditions (variable times for teaching, variable break regulations, spacious premises for the forming of very small groups and for internet research).

Effects on the Curriculum The lessons on which the subject system is based traditionally follow the system of the respective technical discipline. For this purpose, the discipline-systematic structures are largely integrated into the subjects and therefore become the starting point of substantive curriculum decisions. The specific profile of the scientific disciplines is thus developed for the vocational training and adapted to the respective lessons in the vocational schools. The concept of learning areas puts vocational fields of action, and respectively, vocational situations into the focus of curricular considerations. It therefore almost completely replaces the traditional structure of subjects in vocational schools. The profession-related subjects are replaced by learning areas. The targets and contents of the learning areas are derived from the analyses of profession-typical areas


of activities, the competencies to be achieved are presented by descriptors. They sum up desired skills of the apprentices in various areas of contents.

The targets of learning areas determine necessary learning activities, which derive from competency-oriented requirements. Target formulations describe competencies which the apprentices may achieve at the end of learning areas within the sense of a comprehensive professional action competency.

The contents describe minimal requirements which are necessary to reach the educational goal. These contents are selected according to the principle of exemplarity and do not lay any claim to completeness. This provides the possibility of the implementation of new, supplementary, regional, vocational and social development as well as of school-specific focusses (KMK 2011).

The contents of the exemplary learning areas do not refer to special profession-related skills of mathematics and drawing, since the latter should be part of school-internal curricula. Apart from job-typical activities, they do, however, always consider the special characteristics of the profession like business-economic thinking, environment and sustainability as well as the guidelines for safety and health protection. For each learning area there is an anticipated time guideline for dealing with this topic during lessons. Due to the European Commission demanding professional and social action competency personal competencies apart from professional expertise now play a more important role than before in vocational schools. Within the frame of the school-internal curriculum of the Peter-Lenné-Schule not only the determined contents are promoted and demanded but also further competencies as per the guidelines of the KMK. The multivariate quantitative determination of the latter can be presented as follows (see figure 2).

Figure 2: Cross-linking of the dimensions of professional action competency Source: Haß 2008: 55


This is how input-oriented curricula are replaced by an outcome-oriented curriculum, which can have very individual and regional-specific characteristics. Therefore, individual vocational schools as well as their respective teachers get much more self-responsibility due to planning and developing of the curriculum. Development of Competencies Based on the idea of competencies every expertise teaching-learning arrangement with content-orientation may lead to suitable learning activities and therefore to the desired development of professional action competency. The methodical implementation of practical teaching-learning arrangements is done on the basis of the model of the complete learning (see figure 3).

Figure 3: Activity cycle of complete learning Source: D. Haß

This also applies to the examination assignment of the “small virtual building site”. The apprentices independently pass through the steps of complete learning: They obtain information from profession-typical documents in form of performance description, work planning and delivery note (see annex), they plan and decide for a way of procedure to reach a functional solution and fictively implement the profession-typical tasks formulating written answers. Finally, they independently control their work results. The “small virtual building site” like other teaching-learning arrangements combines activity orientation with competency orientation. The following chart shows the cooperation of the activity and competency-oriented approaches (see figure 4).


Figure 4: Approaches of activity and competency-oriented teaching-learning arrangements Source: D. Haß 2012, 19)

The examination assignment of the “small virtual building site” was taken by 281 apprentice landscape gardeners. The logged data was evaluated for functionality and reliability of the multiple-situation tasks by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA). As extraction method a principal component analysis by varimax rotation was chosen. The analysis of factors showed a variance explanation of 64.15% which can be considered as satisfactory (Haß 2016: 232f.). Conclusion Competency development is shown by actions, which in turn are caused by practice-oriented working situations and genuine assignments. They require an interdisciplinary cooperation of the teachers. To work at the “small virtual building site“ the apprentice landscape gardener must apply his expertise and cognitive skills and must furthermore show additional competencies in this profession-typical situation. That is why the examination assignment of the “small virtual building site” is suitable as an instrument for the measuring of a competency development of landscape gardeners and therefore of professional action competency. Furthermore, the “small virtual building site” contributes to activity orientation and to competency orientation in the vocational training all over the common European education and employment area.


Literature, resources: Bräuer, M. (2004) Handlungsorientiertes Lehr-Lern-Arrangement im Fachunterricht von Gärtnern und Landwirten. Beiträge zur Fachdidaktik Land- und Gartenbauwissenschaft, Hamburg: Kovac. EC (2008) Learning Opportunities and Qualifications in Europe. Descriptors defining levels in the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), [online available on: https://ec.europa.eu/ploteus/content/descriptors-page] KMK (2011) Handreichungen für die Erarbeitung von Rahmenlehrplänen der Kultusministerkonferenz für den berufsbezogenen Unterricht in der Berufsschule und ihre Abstimmung mit Ausbildungsordnungen des Bundes für anerkannte Ausbildungsberufe, [online available on: http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2011/2011_09_23-GEP-Handreichung.pdf] Haß, D. (2008) “New concept of structuring of vocational education of gardeners.”, in Slavik, M., Berrocal, F. O. & Jordánová, B. (eds.). Proceeding of the ENTER Conference, Cordoba 2008, Prague: Czech University of Life Sciences, pp. 72-80. Haß, D. (2012) “Handlungskompetenz in Prüfungen bewerten.” B&B Agrar – Die Zeitschrift für Bildung und Beratung. 5/12, pp. 18-21. Haß, D. (2016) Entwicklung beruflicher Handlungskompetenz in der gärtnerischen Berufsausbildung durch die Anwendung des Lernfeldkonzepts. Dissertation. Berlin: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in preparation.


INTERACTION OF SELECTED DISCIPLINES IN A TEACHING CZECH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

HANA HUDEČKOVÁ

Abstract In the article, there are presented several selected disciplines that are related to a teaching foreign languages. There are described some examples of troubles for teacher and students as representatives of different languages and cultures. In the article, there are suggested some tips for improvement of teaching English as a foreign language and there is given a guideline for students support. Key words Teaching, learning, language group, foreign language, Czech language, Geography, Biology, Mathematics, Chemistry, Music Introduction The current world is really closely connected and everything is interrelated. Various disciplines can touch foreign language more or less. Social Sciences such as history or psychology seem to be closer to languages than other disciplines. They include social-culture aspects, for example using of formal and informal conversation in specific situations. Students come into a language course with different input of various disciplines. Differences are bigger in a heterogeneous learning group than in a homogeneous group. It means greater distinction of Social-culture aspects across the group and not only between teacher and his students. The students want to achieve very similar outputs and sometimes it could mean a challenge for the teacher. In this short paper, there are chosen basic disciplines in terms of interdisciplinary approach in teaching Czech language for foreigners: Geography, Biology, Foreign language, Music, Mathematics and Chemistry. Interaction with Geography One of the disciplines which occurs in learning of foreign language is Geography. Work with the map occurs very soon (question: "Where are you from?"). Later the geographical map is needed for topics such as traveling or holiday. Most of students coming from different continents are looking for small states on the map with difficulty. For example most of my last Vietnamese students started to look for the Czech Republic in the Africa at first.


Photo 1: Team work: transport in the Czech Republic (Geography) In Relation with Biology Next interacted discipline is Biology. It could be a little surprise but learning the names of some specific plants, animals or parts of human body means in fact learning technical terms of Biology. For example I can introduce some names of fruits which are typical for Czech Republic. Even students from neighbouring countries don't know them. Names of these plants are gooseberry and currant. Gooseberry is a very sweet fruit which are in season in the middle of July. It is a small green and yellow berry big like a thumb and it is growing on a small tree. The currant is known in three species – black, white and red. It is a very small berry which is sweet and sour and it is growing on a small tree or small shrub. It is not easy to imagine that. The best way how to describe this fruit to students is to taste it. It was a small example about plants. Similar situation we could find in fauna. Not only names of animals are necessary to know. Teaching language doesn't mean only learning in a classroom. The group visits a historic city centre, museums, land protected areas or a ZOO from time to time. The ZOO is a good example why it is needed to learn biological-technical terms. If a student wants to read some information about animal on the board he or she needs to know words such as male, rodent, rat, tail, population etc. Interaction with other foreign languages The word "population" seems to be easy word for learning. But it might not be true. Czech language is using a lot of original words from different foreign languages. The most of adopted words are coming from English, German, French and Latin. Adopted words from English are usually called "international words" and they are very often helpful for teachers. Teachers can use them for explanation of another words. Some foreign languages exclude international worlds. Vietnamese does not use a lot of international words. Several international words and their Vietnamese equivalents are listed at the frame 1.


Table 1: Difference of words

Czech English Vietnamese

mínus minus trừ

ekologie ecology sinh thái học

As you can see these words are completely different and it could cause troubles with understanding. Sometimes it could also cause problems with pronunciation. For instance the word "notebook". It is pronounced in the Czech and English in the same way [nəut|buk]. But students that are not English speakers read this word in the Czech way [notebook]. Importance of Music The pronunciation is inseparable part of the language and one of the favourite way of practicing pronunciation is singing. It is very useful for practice of specific Czech vibrant consonants "r" and "ř". The pronunciation of these consonants causes really big difficulties and it could be easier to learn thanks to Music. These consonants are really easy to say in a longer way, e.g. "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr". Mathematics is one of the basic disciplines which is related to foreign language. It includes especially a basic counting such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division or reading of fractions. Relations with Chemistry Peripheral discipline in teaching of foreign language is Chemistry. It is necessary to mention metals used for medals during a discussion about sport and the elements of the atmosphere during discussion about an environment. It seems to be very useful and helpful to have Periodic table of elements on the wall in the classroom for easier explanation to students. Interdisciplinary approach The interaction of disciplines brings significant challenges for the teacher. A teacher is seen as a high professional with a general overview to all disciplines he couldn't be prepared for all incoming situations. The cooperation of teachers of various disciplines could make it easier. They could share their experience and exchange teaching aids and materials of different subjects. Moreover, they could also plan curriculum together.


Photo 2: Work in pairs: drawing dictation (Art) Conclusion In conclusion, I would like to summarize that learning and teaching foreign language means learning and teaching culture including a variety of disciplines. The interaction involves a lot of disciplines not only basic disciplines mentioned above. It involves also disciplines as Inter-cultural relationship, Agriculture, History, Sociology, Philosophy, Art etc. One of interaction process is horizontal between the disciplines, the second interaction process, which could be more important, is vertical - between teacher and his students. Knowledge exchange and experience occurs between them. Every single student can contribute by his or her own knowledge of specific disciplines. A nice atmosphere in the classroom and a support from students are necessary for the best performance of whole collective including teacher and all his students. Literature, references: Cvejnová, J. (2005) Co chcete vědět o České republice, 2. Vyd., Praha: Karolinum, ISBN 80-246-0255-5. Čechová, E., Remediosová, H. (2011) Chcete mluvit česky? 6. vyd., Liberec: Ing. Harry Putz, ISBN 978-80-86727-21-9. Hesová, A. (2016) Čeština pro žáky cizince – elektronické materiály [online], [cit. 8. 5. 2016]. Dostupné z <http://clanky.rvp.cz/clanek/c/z/8195/CESTINA-PRO-ZAKY-CIZINCE---ELEKTRONICKE-MATERIALY.html/>. Lískař, Č. (1974) Cíle, obsah a metody vyučování cizím jazykům, 1. vyd., Brno: UJEP.


WHAT SHOULD BE AN IDEAL COMPOSITION OF CAREER COUNSELLING IN SECONDARY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION?

JITKA JIRSÁKOVÁ

Abstract The paper deals with an importance and need for implementation a quality career guidance at secondary vocational school. However the secondary school students chose certain field of study tending to particular work placement, they are often not identified with the profession and they are not sure whether they have decided correctly and if they would like to work in the selected study field work in the future. For this reason, the career consulting is at this educational level and type of school really important and attractive issue. Key words Adolescent, student, secondary vocational school, career counselling, career counsellor, career management skills Importance of the career counselling Changing economic, technological and societal conditions forcing individuals to be constantly active during their working life, ready to adapt to the labour market and its needs. Today, not only knowledge but also requirements of employers to employees, in both the private and public sectors are remarkably changing in a period of time. An individual during his life must count with changes, a model of one work for all the person’s life is out of date. These conditions often make it impossible for individuals, especially for students or recent graduates to orientate in new requirements of the labour market. Therefore, the role of career guidance is constantly growing. It is appropriate to ask what causes these large social changes. On one hand it is globalization, development of ICT, and it causes much more competitive world, information is being spread faster, sharing them is not a problem, new opportunities and the jobs options are opening but it brings a migration and a specialization of the labour force and the manpower. On the other hand, people are “overloaded” with information, the social contact are decreasing, and they are replaced by virtual friendships, the number of “singles” is growing and the number or people, who are coming back to nature, healthy food and living in rural areas in order to avoid the ICT technologies, is rising. Definition of career counselling The career counselling is defined by the OECD as a system of guidance services which are aimed at helping individuals of any age in terms of decision making in questions such as education, professional training, employment options and career development in any phase of their lives.


Guidance activities implemented in schools help pupils to clarify their own career goals and to understand the world of work. The career guidance includes both, individual or group counselling, aimed at a selection of future education and career, a choice of the first job, changing jobs, a return to work process. This complex concerns services for individuals who have not entered the labour market yet and job seekers who are looking for a new job just as well as those who are currently employed. Labour market and high school graduates In terms of monitoring a viability and a success of graduates in the labour market, the unemployment rate of graduates is indicated. It expresses the percentage of graduates who have failed to find a job and they are registered at labour offices. In April 2016, the rates of unemployment of the graduates were as follows:

graduates of secondary vocational schools with an apprenticeship certificate (category H) - 9.1%;

graduates of lower secondary vocational education with an apprenticeship certificate (category E) - 16.0%;

graduates of secondary vocational schools with a leaving examination and a professional training (category L0) - 10.6%;

graduates of two-year follow up study (category L / 5) - 10.6%;

graduates of secondary vocational schools with a leaving examination, (category M) - 7.5%;

graduates of grammar school education “Gymnasium” - 3.1%, however, they usually continue their studies;

graduates from higher vocational education (except conservatoires) - 5.2%.

(Source: infoabsolvent.cz) Career counselling at secondary vocational school Well, how to work with students at the vocational school? What shall we ask them: Why is it important to study at school? What do you want to do in the future? What do you enjoy? What can you do? What did you like doing when you were kids? And always ask them about the rationale and the justification of any evidence why they think so. What would be an "ideal" student of secondary vocational school in terms of career counselling? He or she will know his/her abilities and skills. He or she will be able to represent him/herself and know what he or she can offer at the labour market. He or she will be able to search, evaluate and distinguish suitable employment opportunities for him/her. He or she will be able to contact the potential employers, prepare him/herself for a job interview and will generally know the “Labour Code” and the main parts of the employment contract. He or she will be able to adapt to the changing requirements of the labour market.


Secondary vocational school should not only educate students but also help to bring up professionals and craftsmen in a certain field, but it should also prepare them for entering labour market. It is very difficult to predict in advance where the labour market will tend to, because it is constantly changing, new professions arise and others disappear, job description in some work positions has being changed. Therefore, the school should teach students how to develop their career management skills (CMS) (e.g. the ability for decision making, change management, self-awareness, flexibility, lifelong learning, self-presentation, etc.), that will help students respond adequately to these changes. The school should give them support for getting to know their abilities and skills, to help them to be able to reflect and introspect for what they have talent and on which skills they should work on. Lastly, the students should have an option of a confrontation with the real life, have an opportunity to visit various employers to try out different jobs, etc. It is a shame that in today's school education by “frame educational programme”, there should be a development of skills for the labour market and entrepreneurial activities within teaching cross-cutting topic of “man and the world of work” included in the curricula, but this theme is often implemented only in a professional training at school and it is not enough. Since the first year of study, the students have not been guided how to build their self-reflection and gain overall development of career management skills. Headmasters and VET teachers should ask themselves a question - What have our students learnt in our school? Or what skills and abilities we would like to equip our students with? Workshop at the conference ENTER STUDY DAYS What should be an ideal composition of the career counselling in the secondary vocational education? How is the importance of the career counselling for the students of the secondary vocational school were the main questions of this workshop organised within ENTER Study Days conference, held on 11 May at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. The main aim of the workshop were to bring interest in career guidance among the conference participants – VET teachers and school headmasters. The workshop was open by an introductory reflection, "how heavy cross everyone bears", as we are capable of self-reflection, what is and what is not appropriate for us and how we can avoid a jealousy of others. During the workshop a large number of useful books and websites for the career counsellors were introduced. A diagnostic tool “Test of career anchors” and creative techniques useful for group counselling or teaching “Card game – What do you think the success is?” were showed there. The workshop was closed by a motivation video-sequence „The worst work in the world“. The workshop presentation could be found on this link: http://prezi.com/e8nxuouyfkya/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy .

http://prezi.com/e8nxuouyfkya/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy


Literature, resources: http://www.nuv.cz http://www.narodnikvalifikace.cz http://www.nsp.cz http://www.infoabsolvent.cz http://www.nicm.cz http://www.dzs.cz http://www.euroguidance.cz http://portal.mpsv.cz http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/obcane/poradstrediska http://www.ofdv.cz http://www.katalogporadcu.cz http://coumim.cz http://znv.nidv.cz/okp/o-okp/-okapecko#page2 http://www.cakp.cz http://www.nuv.cz/pospolu/ke-stazeni

http://www.nuv.cz/

http://www.narodnikvalifikace.cz/

http://www.nsp.cz/

http://www.infoabsolvent.cz/

http://www.nicm.cz/

http://www.dzs.cz/

http://www.euroguidance.cz/

http://portal.mpsv.cz/

http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/obcane/poradstrediska

http://www.ofdv.cz/

http://www.katalogporadcu.cz/

http://coumim.cz/

http://znv.nidv.cz/okp/o-okp/-okapecko#page2

http://www.cakp.cz/

http://www.nuv.cz/pospolu/ke-stazeni


CLIL - TEACHING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM TRAVELLING BETWEEN TWO COMFORT ZONES

BEATE KRALICEK

Introduction One of the most illustrative examples of interdisciplinary practice is the concept of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). In former times this programme was also introduced as English Across the Curriculum, English for Specific Purposes, or Bilingual Schooling. However, given the diverse interpretations that the term „bilingual“ receives in different contexts, the acronym CLIL is opted for. A foreign language is used in subjects such as biology, nutrition, economics, history, music, geography, animal husbandry, tourism, horticulture and in practical classes. CLIL has become an internationally recognised and structured approach. Schools in Scandinavia, Northern Italy, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Japan and many more countries are presently taking part in CLIL-programmes. English seems to be the sole foreign language (FL) in primary centres, while the secondary schools offer German and French as FLs (Dafouz-Milne; Hibler 2012:29). „Foreign language medium instruction at university level has already been implemented in countries such as Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden „ (Dafouz et al. 2007:91). The University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy (HAUP) in Vienna implemented CLIL-lectures in a tentative manner about a decade ago and, after setting up an official CLIL-policy, carried out a research project in 2009. Two years later another research publication shed light on the aspects of CLIL in cooperation with a native speaker.1 This present article will comprise these research results and other findings from international research. So what are the important steps for the travellers, the teachers and learners? Milestones for the CLIL-Journey

1. Remember, we`re all in the same boat. 2. Don’t miss the boat. 3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. 4. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs. 5. Don’t leave anyone out. Give them all a friendly call. 6. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails made it on board with

the cheetahs. 7. When you’re stressed, float for a while. 8. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by

professionals. (Michael Storch, adapted)

1 See http://files.adulteducation.at/bifodok/HAUP%20Forschung-2011-.pdf and http://www.agrarumweltpaedagogik.ac.at/cms/upload/pdf/HAUP_Forschung-2013.pdf (7 April 2016).

http://www.agrarumweltpaedagogik.ac.at/cms/upload/pdf/HAUP_Forschung-2013.pdf%20%20(7


Remember, we´re all in the same boat Research at Austrian higher technical and vocational colleges (Wilding et al. 2009:18-22, Dalton et al. 2008:5) argues that CLIL can develop successfully in a fostering system. The support often consists of continuous measures that are backed up by the education authorities, the school´s governing body and the parents of the students. One way of setting up a CLIL-programme in a school is to engage the FL teachers, who can start either helping fellow teachers teach their special subjects in the FL or, as often practised in Germany and Austria, apply CLIL in their own second subjects. (Marsh 2009:56). Additional further training courses will serve as incentives, when they are made available regularly for subject teachers and on the condition that funds are provided for this additional work load. Some team members of one school could receive CLIL training and establish common grounds, thereby exchanging their needs concerning good practices and organisational scaffolding. This could mean changing the curriculum by increasing the number of FL lessons and deciding how many subjects are to be taught within the CLIL-framework and for how many hours per year. A CLIL- policy should be the foundation for this chosen profile and designed by the relevant stakeholders of a school (Kralicek 2010:18). Subsequently it should be made public at staff meetings and on the school´s website. This official policy document proves a common resolution and is similarly empowering for the teachers and learners. Don´t miss the boat International political changes concerning the great numbers of refugees who have migrated to Europe recently call for tailored education policies on the whole continent and globally. However, policy makers already reacted more than a decade ago by recognising a great number of realities with learners in key-contexts like minority immigrants, minority non-immigrants, migrants, majority and selected (often advantaged) (Marsh;Marsland 1999:15). Therefore, orientation towards a plurilingual education is an imminent need for our education systems and a signal for political engagement. Notwithstanding migration being limited at our European borders now, the learners´attitude and behaviour towards speaking FLs to communicate and understand people from other cultures will be kept alive and aligned to intercultural learning outcomes. Thus, CLIL enables learners to see the far-reaching purposes of foreign languages in society in general and the vocational field in particular. In addition, teachers and learners prove that they believe in international strategies and exchange. This might stretch comfort zones, at the same time strengthen political consciousness and bring in demanding


challenges. The FL becomes a language through learning and for learning whereby cultural aspects are included. “The CLIL classroom demands a level of talk, of interaction and dialogic activity which is different of that of the traditional language or content classroom (Coyle; Hood; Marsh 2010:37). Plan ahead. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark When the FL is integrated into another subject, it is very important to bear in mind that strong scaffolding is required. Scaffolding refers to class-tailored didactical procedures of FL learning. Teachers are advised to acknowledge the fact that they „ need to adapt their methodology because the fact that they individually have the capability to function as well in the L1 as in the L22 by no means guarantees that the pupils are able to do the same thing“ (Marsh; Marsland 1999:55). So what, in turn, can serve as helpful scaffolding for learners in a CLIL-classroom? As already mentioned above, adapted methods are required: But where is the starting point of the CLIL-journey, when it comes to putting the theory into action? It is good preparation before the actual „CLIL-departure“. Let us begin with classroom language. It seems to be a popular feature of CLIL teaching that teachers organise their classrooms in the foreign language. When it comes to giving feedback, praising, returning homework, setting up the media equipment or explaining certain tasks, students will be invited to get used to a FL in the content classroom. Depending on what is aimed at in each teaching situation, teachers are invited to decide whether they emphasize on teacher or pupil-centred methods. Since CLIL includes language learning objectives, interactivity is a clear characteristic of many CLIL models (ibid. 61). For this reason it is recommended by many scholars that tasks are designed that involve students´ higher-order thinking skills and to make this cognitive process visible in the language outcome (Coyle; Hood; Marsh 2010:30). Research findings of a CLIL-group at the HAUP whose seminar was on Human Ecology have shown that these learners rated working in small groups as effective „because a) they benefitted from the opinions and knowledge of their classmates and b) the small, peer environment made them more comfortable speaking in English (though they occasionally switched to German)“. Other comments were about the need for vocabulary support: The respondents claimed that the course helped them to expand their vocabulary (Kralicek; Langer 2013:39). These discoveries may be due to a reflective portfolio that each student had to write; it consisted of a text on the content of the previous seminar and a reflection on language development and the learning atmosphere. Moreover, factors such as vocabulary lists, making presentations on a freely chosen topic within a given frame, and regular feedback on their language skills were important stimuli for most students. Summarising the important planning steps on this boat trip, it does not seem to be „a question of whether to focus on meaning or form but rather

2 L1 First language = mother tongue;L2-second (= foreign) language


that it is fundamental to address both, the balance of which will be determined by different variables in specific CLIL settings“ (Marsh; Marsland 1999:35). For safety´s, sake travel in pairs Planning lessons together and teaching together is highly recommended because there are many advantages to this simultaneous cooperation. Team teaching distributes classroom responsibilities for teachers, who endeavour in more creative problem solving and serve as role models for their learners, who are able to imitate the collaborative skills of their teachers. Consequently, a shared learning community will be the outcome in a CLIL-classroom (Dafouz-Milne; Hibler 2012:3). Inter-collegial cooperation, i.e. professional learning communities promote the learning of people and systems and foster a move away from teachers who act as „lone fighters“ (Schratz; Westfall-Greiter, 2010:122).The principle of equality is seen as the highest value of cooperation which allows team partners to set a course, make suggestions and favour innovation (ibid. 122). All things considered, this particular contact at eye level and having the students´ long term goals, such as special vocational competences, in mind are crucial milestones. Don´t leave anyone out. Give them all a friendly call This paragraph will shed light on aspects of inclusion in a CLIL setting and answer questions on the levels of foreign language competences of CLIL teachers and learners. In regards to the subject teachers who teach through a foreign language, it has been found that CLIL has been implemented in some European secondary schools by a small group of teachers or even one single person. This condition might release feelings of fighting alone and cause a certain

degree of isolationism sic (Marsh; Marsland 1999:42). Under those cirumstances teachers would feel more confident if more of their colleagues sat in the same boat and worked with colleagues of another discipline. They would become aware of the fascinating qualities of another academic field and show open respect for fellow teachers thereby acknowledging the reality that there are so many experts in one school who are able to contribute so much to other subjects. Similarly challenging for subject teachers sometimes are their expectations with respect to their own foreign language competence. Some countries, such as Spain, have established back-up measures for them. Some other European countries, like Germany and Austria, have dual-qualification in their teacher training programmes and often these teachers would then teach their second subject through the FL. For them the FL competence does not pose difficulties. However, subject teachers who feel unconfident teaching through a FL need more support. „The significance of being able to use the target language, and teach by using a variety of CLIL

methodologies, is of fundamental significance sic in many classrooms“ (ibid. 45/46). In addition to these competences, analysing the students´ learning outcomes in terms of content and FL skills is recommended


in order to plan a CLIL course. That is why we could all give each other friendly calls to work on these issues and together in teams find suitable methods for CLIL classes. As with the students, the common practice to be seen is „that the CLIL environment is positive and refreshing for these young people, precisely because they do not need to be on their guard as regards making errors“ (ibid. 41). This factor is inclusive in terms of mixed ability learning opportunities. Code-switching is also conducive to a beneficial learning environment in the CLIL classroom, as well as clear regulations concerning the fields of students´ performance that will be used for grading. As mentioned above, it is not common in a CLIL classroom for language mistakes to be penalized. Indicated errors and feedback, however, is appreciated and requested by most students, especially adult learners (Kralicek; Langer 2013:40). Including students in regards to their learning goals and needs is also a crucial factor in a shared learning community. As Dalton stresses (Dalton 2008:15), „it will be necessary in the future to state more explicitly which language aims are pursued through the practice of CLIL“. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails made it on board with the cheetahs. It is evident that a certain ratio of L1 and L2 has emerged in the past decades. However, „the Council of Europe argued in 1993 that if a minimum of 25% of the discourse found in the learning situation was in the target language, then such a lesson could qualify as CLIL.“ (Marsh; Marsland 1999:63). But as a policy on language should not be rigid, teachers need to be flexible when it comes to decisions as the learning takes place (ibid. 64). It may sometimes seem as if the process is very slow due to frequent code switching (the switch from one language to another). However, this can be conducive to making an important step towards actively processing content in the target language. Teachers who are aware of effective methods will find that slow motion processes that include little usage of L2 are very important in the learning process. They will be the starting point for more complex utterances such as hypothesising or predicting. Additionally, simulation and role-plays increase student production in L2 compared to L1 (Dalton 2008:8-10). When you’re stressed, float for a while. Subject teachers teaching through the foreign language may find it stressful when they evaluate the complexity of the content outcome of their students. They will claim that their students have covered less due to the CLIL setting, as stated in many findings and „that content cannot be dealth with as thoroughly as in L1“ (Marsh; Marsland 1999:56). This reduction can be compensated by relying more on students´ autonomy and by believing more consciously in their competences. They will be capable of making up for the simplified instruction in the target language and find new ways to gain learner autonomy. Less is sometime more as a student reports, „the most positive thing about CLIL teaching has been the fact


that instruction is more concise and subject matter is handled more tightly“. Similarly, a slower teaching speed is seen as a positive development (ibid.). Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. To sum up, let us find ways to get inspired and cooperate so that this CLIL-Ark can go on a rewarding and jolly voyage into new waters, where winds and storms can be faced with energy and strength! Relationships-Inspiration-Cooperation are key. Literature, resources: For your further reference some CLIL- websites: http://clil-cd.ecml.at/EuropeanFrameworkforCLILTeacherEducation/tabid/2254/language/en-GB/Default.aspx http://www.unifg.it/sites/default/files/allegatiparagrafo/20-01-2014/european_framework_for_clil_teacher_education.pdf http://www.icrj.eu/14/article7.html http://www.factworld.info/ http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/clil-teacher-magazine/your-perspectives/clil-in-the-czech-republic-zdenek-vasicek/501042.article http://www.unifg.it/sites/default/files/allegatiparagrafo/21-01-2014/teaching_geography_through_clil.pdf Coyle, D., Hood, P., Marsh, D. (2010) CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dafouz, E., Nunez, B., Sancha, C., Foran, D. (2007) ‘Integrating CLIL at the tertiary level. Teachers´and students´reactions’, in Wolff, D., Marsh, D.(eds) Diverse contexts-converging goals. CLIL in Europe. Bd. 4, Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Peter Lang. pp. 91-102. Dafouz-Milne, E., Hibler, A. Dafouz, E (2013) ‘Zip your lips or Keep quiet: Main teachers' and language assistants' classroom discourse in CLIL settings’. The Modern Language Journal, 97(3), pp. 655-669. Dalton-Puffer, C. (2008) ‘Outcomes and Processes in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Current research from Europe’, in Delanoy, W.; Volkmann, L. (eds) Future Perspectives for English Language Teaching. Heidelberg. Verlag Carl Winter. Available at: https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/Dalton/SEW07/CLIL%20research%20overview%20article.pdf Kralicek, B. (2010) ‘CLIL at our College: Learning and Teaching in English as the Medium of Instruction’, in Forschungsbericht der Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpädagogik, Wien, pp. 18-22. Kralicek, B., Langer, M. (2013) ‘CLIL in Cooperation with a Native Teaching Assistant’. In Forschungsbericht der Hochschule für Agrar- und Umweltpädagogik, Wien, pp. 36-42. Marsh, D., Marsland, B. (eds) (1999) Learning with Languages, Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.

http://www.unifg.it/sites/default/files/allegatiparagrafo/20-01-2014/european_framework_for_clil_teacher_education.pdf

http://www.unifg.it/sites/default/files/allegatiparagrafo/20-01-2014/european_framework_for_clil_teacher_education.pdf

http://www.icrj.eu/14/article7.html

http://www.factworld.info/

http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/clil-teacher-magazine/your-perspectives/clil-in-the-czech-republic-zdenek-vasicek/501042.article

http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/clil-teacher-magazine/your-perspectives/clil-in-the-czech-republic-zdenek-vasicek/501042.article

https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/Dalton/SEW07/CLIL%20research%20overview%20article.pdf

https://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/Dalton/SEW07/CLIL%20research%20overview%20article.pdf


Marsh, D., Ennser, B., Sygmund, D. (eds) (1999) Pursuing Plurilingualism Vers le Plurilinguisme Unterrichtsziel Mehrsprachigkeit, Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Schratz, M., Westfall-Greiter, T. (2010) ‘Schulqualität sichern und weiterentwickeln’, in Priebe, B.(ed.): Schule weiterentwickeln – Unterricht verbessern, Seelze: Verlag Friedrich Wilding, C., Plösch, M., Kupplent, W. (2009) ‘PEA – das Projekt Englisch als Arbeitssprache and der HTBL und VA (Bulme) Graz-Gösting’, in Themenreihe des Österreichischen-Sprachen-Kompetenzzentrums, Bd. 3, Graz.


RESEARCH ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR THE NEW-GENERATION OF WOMEN FARMERS

IN YUNNAN RURAL AREAS

YU MA Abstract Vocational education in rural areas plays a very important role during the reform and development in rural areas, especially in training the new-generation of women farmers. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were chosen as the research methods. Based on the understanding and analysis of the status quo and the problems that were identified in the new-generation of women farmers and the vocational education in Yunnan rural areas, the suggestions for accelerating the development of vocational education in Yunnan rural areas are proposed from the following aspects: the education level of the new-generation of women farmers should be improved by developing Yunnan rural vocational education, strengthening motivation and raise the enthusiasm of the farmers to receive rural vocational education, increasing the contents and change the forms of rural vocational education, improving the quality of vocational education in Yunnan rural areas, increasing the funds to vocational education in rural areas, and improving the rural vocational education system. Keywords Vocational education in rural areas, new-generation of women farmers, investigation, Yunnan 1 Background At the end of 2014, Yunnan province had a population of 47,140,000 and a rural population of 37,130,000. The number of rural employed persons was 21,890,000, and the number of female rural employed persons 10,310,000, i.e. a share of 47.1%. The number of employees involved in agriculture decreased gradually from 16,500,000 in 2010 to 15,690,000 in 2014 (Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Statistics 2015). Under the new situation of economic and social development of Yunnan province, the agricultural population gradually shifted to Non-agricultural professions Due to family reasons, more women remain in rural areas and are engaged in agriculture. The female farmers, who were born in or after 1980 (They are defined as new-generation of women farmers), are better educated and are willing to accept new ideas and new technology. They play an increasingly important role in the rural economic development. At the same time, the Chinese government attaches great importance to rural vocational education under the new situation. Xi Jinping, president of the People's Republic of China, made an important speech on the national conference of vocational education in June 2014, and pointed out to increase the support for rural vocational education (Xi Jinping 2014). Therefore, we investigate on the new-generation of women farmers and the vocational education in Yunnan rural areas, in order to accelerate


the development of rural vocational education and training the new-generation of women farmers in Yunnan province.

2 Method 2.1 Subject 2.1.1 Yunnan women farmers Yunnan new-generation of women farmers are the female farmers who are living in Yunnan rural areas and are engaged in agricultural production or management or related activities, and were born in or after 1980. In order to understand of the status quo and the problems existed in new-generation of women farmers, a stratified sampling method was used based on the different regional and economic development levels in Yunnan Province. 500 Yunnan women farmers from Kunming, Qujing, Zhaotong and Dali were surveyed, and 488 valid questionnaires were received (the response of 97.6%), including 229 new-generation of women farmers’ questionnaires. Table 1 shows the details of the respondents of Yunnan women farmers.

Table 1: Respondents of Yunnan Women Farmers

2.1.2 Interviewees According to the results of the questionnaire survey, the interview outlines for interviewing the rural women farmers, the rural officials and the officials from the Women’s Federation were designed. A total number of 53 people were interviewed.

2.2 Research tools 2.2.1 Women farmers’ questionnaire The women farmers’ questionnaire was designed and then was modified by the experts. After a preliminary test of 120 women farmers the women farmers’ questionnaire was modified again and completed. The questionnaire contains the general information, the education level and the training situation. 2.2.2 Interview outlines According to the results of the questionnaire survey, the interview outlines for interviewing the rural women farmers, the rural officials and the officials from the Women’s Federation were designed, and after modified by the experts. The interview outlines for the three different groups of people were completed.

Areas Kunming Qujing Dali Zhaotong

No. 189 99 100 100

Percentage 38.7 20.3 20.5 20.5


2.3 Data collection and analysis Using EpiData software for data entry, and using SPSS16.0 statistical software for data analysis.

3 Results and analysis 3.1 Education level of the Yunnan women farmers The survey result shows that 89.6% of the new-generation of women farmers have completed the nine-year compulsory education, and only 68.8% of the earlier generation women farmers have completed the nine-year compulsory education. Only 2.2% of the new-generation of women farmers have received higher education, little higher than the other women farmers. In interviewing the women farmers, we found that most of young girls from Yunnan rural areas, who have received higher education, prefer finding a job in cities to returning to rural areas. So the young females who would be new-generation female farmers, but have obtained a higher education typically do not become farmers and thus fall out of the survey. This is one of the reason, according to our survey, why only 2.2% of the new-generation of women farmers have received higher education.

Table 2: Education Level of Yunnan Women Farmers

New-generation of women farmers

Earlier generation women farmers

Sum

No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage

Educati-on level

Unschooled 1 0.4% 5 1.9% 6 1.2%

Primary school 23 10.0% 76 29.3% 99 20.3%

Junior high school

176 76.9% 134 51.7% 310 63.5%

Senior high school

16 7.0% 34 13.1% 50 10.2%

Secondary specialized school, technical school, or vocational high school

8 3.5% 7 2.7% 15 3.1%

Junior college 3 1.3% 3 1.2% 6 1.2%

University degree or above

2 0.9% 0 0% 2 0.4%

Sum 229 100.0% 259 100.0% 488 100.0%


3.2 Investigation on agricultural technology training for Yunnan women farmers The survey result shows that 66.4% of the new-generation of women farmers have already participated in the agricultural technology training, and 59.6% of the earlier generation women farmers have taken part in the agricultural technology training. Further, 33.6% of new-generation of women farmers still have not attended any agricultural technology training. Table 3: Investigation on Agricultural Technology Training for Yunnan Women Farmers



Sum

No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage

Agricultural

technology

training

Have attended 152 66.4% 154 59.5% 306 62.7%

Have not attended 77 33.6% 105 40.5% 182 37.3%

Sum 229 100.0% 259 100.0% 488 100.0%

3.3 Investigation on the reason why the Yunnan women farmers did not attend the agricultural technology training According the survey, the main reason for Yunnan women farmers not attending the agricultural technology training is that they do not have time or they have no information on the training possibilities available. Some of them are not willing to, or they lack the basic knowledge that would be a prerequisite for the training, or they cannot afford fees.


Table 4: The reason why the Yunnan women farmers did not attend the agricultural technology training



Sum

No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage

The reason why the Yunnan women farmers did not attend the agricultural technology training

No will 14 18.42% 8 7.55% 22 12.09%

No Money 4 5.26% 10 9.43% 14 7.69%

No time 29 38.16% 46 43.40% 75 41.21%

No Education Background

7 9.21% 15 14.15% 22 12.09%

No information source

21 27.63% 26 24.53% 47 25.82%

others 1 1.32% 1 0.94% 2 1.10%

Sum 76 100.00% 106 100.00% 182 100.00%

3.4 Investigation on training demand of the Yunnan women farmers The survey result shows that more than half of Yunnan women farmers are willing to participate in planting and breeding technology training courses. As planting and breeding technology will influence the agricultural productivity, they are urgently needed by the women farmers. 34.1% of the new-generation of women farmers wanted to take part in the computer application training courses. Because the new-generation of women farmers are willing to accept new things and learn more knowledge from internet. Besides more than 10% of the women farmers wanted to acquire cooking skills, or learn about management, agricultural products processing technology, law, finance and investment and healthcare. Yunnan women farmers have shown a demand for a high diversity training contents.


Table 5: Training Demand of the Yunnan Women Farmers

New-generation

of women farmers


Sum

No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage No.

Percen-tage

Demand of

the

Training

content

Planting Technology

119 52.0% 147 56.8% 266 54.5%

Breeding technology

121 52.8% 132 51.0% 253 51.8%

Agricultural products processing technology

33 14.4% 42 16.2% 75 15.4%

Cooking skills 50 21.8% 51 19.7% 101 20.7%

Management 43 18.8% 33 12.7% 76 15.6%

Computer application

78 34.1% 39 15.1% 117 24.0%

Garment sewing 10 4.4% 15 5.8% 25 5.1%

Finance and investment

29 12.7% 26 10.0% 55 11.3%

Healthcare 32 14.0% 19 7.3% 51 10.5%

Law 40 17.5% 30 11.6% 70 14.3%

Others 9 3.9% 2 0.8% 11 2.3%

4 Discussion and Suggestions According to the survey results of Yunnan women farmers and the results of interviewing the rural women farmers, the rural officials and the officials from the Women’s Federation, the suggestions for accelerating the development of vocational education for the new-generation of women farmers in Yunnan rural areas are proposed. 4.1The education level of the new-generation of women farmers should be improved by developing Yunnan rural vocational education. Although 89.6% of the new-generation of women farmers have completed the nine-year compulsory education, only 2.2% have received a higher education. Under the new situation of speeding up the development of modern agriculture and accelerating the process of rural urbanization, the new-generation of women farmers should improve their education level and learn more skills so that they can adapt to the development of modern


agriculture. One important measure is to develop the vocational education in Yunnan rural areas. 4.2 Strengthening motivation and raise the enthusiasm of the farmers to receive rural vocational education According to the survey and interview results, some of the Yunnan women farmers are not willing to join the agricultural technology training, because they think that they can plant and breed already so that they do not need any new technology. Some of them are not educated, and do not believe that the agriculture technology can help them increase the productivity any further. In some districts the farmers will not attend the training courses unless they can get the lost of income from the government or the trainers. Besides the information on training opportunities is unavailable to some of them. Therefore we should strengthen the motivation of vocational education in rural areas, let more and more farmers know when, where and what kind of training courses are provided for them, and also let them know what they can get from each of the training courses, also attach importance to vocational trainings.

4.3 Increasing the contents and change the forms of rural vocational education. The survey and interview results show that Yunnan women farmers have a demand for training in diverse contents. They are not only willing to receive the planting and breeding technology trainings, but also interested in computer application, cooking skills, management, agricultural products processing technology, law, finance and investment, healthcare, etc. Therefore we should increase the contents of rural vocational education and training. And at the same time, we got to know from the interview results, most of the training courses are teaching the farmers theoretical knowledge in classrooms. But the women farmers prefer to learn more practical skills. Therefore we should change the forms of the trainings, increase more practical parts so that the women farmers can not only know the theories but also learn some practical skills. 4.4 Improving the quality of vocational education in Yunnan rural areas The survey and interview results show that the quality of vocational education in Yunnan rural areas needs to be improved. We also found that most of the rural vocational schools are lack of “double qualified teachers” (the professional teachers with both teaching qualification and practical skills), besides the agricultural trainings organized by government departments at all levels are also lack of the experts. So it is urgent to improve the quality of vocational education in Yunnan rural areas. First, to improve the qualification of the rural vocational school teachers, more training opportunities for the teachers needs to be provided. Also a personnel policy that enables the rural vocational schools to employ professional experts and the double qualified teachers as regular teachers. Besides we should set up the collaboration among the agricultural enterprises, the scientific research institutes, the universities,


the government and rural vocational schools so that they can easily find the experts for the rural vocational trainings. Second, to improve the teaching method, not only providing theoretical instruction, but also practical courses to trainers. The women farmers then will be enabled to really acquire knowledge and skills, which can be useful and helpful in their life and in agricultural production.

4.5 Increasing the funds to vocational education in rural areas According to the survey and interview results, Yunnan rural vocational education budget shortage is serious. First, the government should implement the “Law of Vocational Education”, for example by investing 30% of the education supplementary tax on vocational education (Ministry of Education of the People’s republic of China 1996). Second, guarantee the rural vocational education fund, and increasing the funds to vocational education in rural areas so that the vocational training courses could provide for the farmers in each village, instead of only in the counties or the rural areas around big cities. Third, the agricultural enterprises are encouraged to engage in rural vocational education, not only provide internship opportunities for students, but also give the financial and technological assistance for vocational trainings and increase investment in promoting the application of new agricultural products, new technology, new equipment, etc..

4.6 Improving the rural vocational education system Yunnan rural vocational education is a field of in which several universities, research institutions and some departments of the government are active, working on processes of research, training and application. However, the universities, research institutions and the departments of the government mostly work separately and are not sufficiently involved in cooperation. Therefore the collaboration among these organizations and institutions should be strengthened. To this end, a specific institution might be set up for organizing the rural vocational education and training so that the agricultural enterprises, the universities, research institutions and the departments of the government can collaborate well, and each of them can take their own advantages, and gradually form a useful and highly efficient rural vocational education system. Literature, references: Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Statistics. Yunnan statistical yearbook (2015) Beijing: China Statistics Press. Jinping X. (2014) To accelerate the development of vocational education so that each person has the opportunity to have a colorful life, Xinhuanet. http://www.centv.cn/my/folder3995/folder4001/2014/06/2014-06-2381678.html. Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (1996) Law of Vocational Education of the People’s republic of China. http://www.moe.edu.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_619/200407/1312.html


INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE LEARNING

JAN-WILLEM NOOM IN COLLABORATION WITH BEATE KRALICEK

Abstract In March 2016 a group of 16 students from 6 ENTER institutions came together in Vienna to learn and collaborate on different aspects of innovative and sustainable entrepreneurship. How can an entrepreneur combine these principles, what kind of skills does an innovative entrepreneur need? And what about the role of education in the learning process of the entrepreneurs of the future? Sustainable learning is an important approach in vocational education in the land-based sector nowadays. This paper will give an impression of the results of an ENTER study course. Key words Innovative entrepreneurship, sustainability, sustainable learning, collaborative learning, business models, professional didactics Introduction Entrepreneurship is becoming more and more important in different professional disciplines. Thinking in a forward direction, in an innovative way and keeping an eye for sustainability, requires professionals who are able to pinpoint development in their own business, sector and chain. Since the implementation of competence based learning in vocational educational institutions across Europe, entrepreneurship has been defined as one of the main areas of development to focus on in curricula. To educate innovative and sustainable entrepreneurs, we have to think about skills and knowledge that a student or entrepreneur-in-advance needs to prepare him/herself to be ‘sustainable on the job’; to develop the ability be tuned to the work field continuously, develop themself through their career naturally and to be educated in skills which are useful in a demanding and changing society. Education has to be responsive (De Jong, 2015); This is a tuned attitude by a professional educator towards students. The teaching professional responds to signals sent by students and interacts in an appropriate and stable manner, responding to the educational context in which students find themselves. Innovative Entrepreneurship Which are the entrepreneurial competences that are at stake? Entrepreneurs need creativity, strategic thinking, management skills, marketing and sales skills and last but not least the balance between work and life (Linder, 2016). Entrepreneurs have a responsibility to their investors and shareholders, but also to nature, society and future generations (Linder, 2016). Entrepreneurs of the future will have to develop a much greater sense of responsibility (Faltin, 2013). As an entrepreneur you should never try to invent something completely new


or question good practices. What you need is creating ideas, not funds and meet professional friends to discuss your ideas. During sessions of knowledge creation the group of international ENTER students clarified the main competences and indicators of being an innovative entrepreneur. Table 1: What an innovative entrepreneur needs Source: Noom, J.W. ENTRE short course Entrepreneurship in Wenen. In: Studentennieuwsbrief 06, Wageningen: Stoas Vilentum Hogeschool, 2016 (p. 4-6)

Competence Skills, behaviour, attitude, knowledge

Innovation Risk management, thinking out of the box, discover your passion, getting together and networking, exchanging ideas, using creative techniques, establishing an economic environment, analysing the markets, resilience, perseverance, conviction, connecting disciplines and branches

How to create good decisions Using different perspectives, reflecting skills, making timely decisions, utilising available data, cultivating a climate of trial and error, defining indicators and setting up milestones, how to take decisions, defining scenarios

Risk management Observing skills and techniques, observing one´s own organisation and the environment (micro – macro), using instruments of quality management systems

How to boost sustainability Thinking about low-input systems, using renewable inputs, focussing on the region, communicating with the society, how to share resources, environmental education and green pedagogy: ecological awareness

Learning Innovative and sustainable entrepreneurship leads us to the topic of sustainable learning (Kessels, 2011). Kessels defines the term as learning dedicated to become a good practitioner ready to start at this time, at this moment. Furthermore it is learning how to continue to get more experience on the way to becoming a professional and to develop yourself as a professional, depending on the demands of new contexts and new insights. To prepare students for the labor market and to develop


an enterprising attitude, training soft skills is more and more important. Society calls for independent people, who are able to cooperate and collaborate well. Reflecting on learning insights and the impact of the learner´s own contribution to the learning process lead to becoming aware of his/her qualities, capacities and the skills to apply them. To stimulate collaborative learning it is important to find ways and methods of learning in which the trainer encourages people to be positively interdependent, have individual accountability, create direct interaction while cooperating, pay attention to social skills and pay attention to the group process. SHORT COURSE ENTREPRO In an intensive program, ENTER and the University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy (HAUP) hosted a mixed group of students who specialise themselves in teaching, training or advisory services in the land-based sector. In a short course they gathered insights into the themes of innovative entrepreneurship, sustainable approaches to business models and how to make the transfer to learning. Training Program Lectures were partly based on European business development, as well as business developments in Austria in order to connect students to the theme and create an umbrella for a common starting position. Workshops and an excursion program were dedicated to deepen individual insights and use dialogical learning to create knowledge together. Not every kind of communication is called dialogue (Bohm, 1996; Isaacs, 1999). There is detailed research that comprises some important characteristics of a dialogical situation. The attitude of every participant has to be philanthropic and every participant will have to use interventions that will generate dialogue. Common understanding is more important than finding a consensus. In dialogue there are only winners, instead of winners and losers as for example in a debate or discussion. Dialogue is a powerful tool to understand what actually thinking is, as a process (Factor & Carret, 1991). Dialogue is based on equal co-constructivism of understanding. It is shared thinking and getting well acquainted with certain subjects and actions (Aarnio & Enqvist, 2001). In the second part of the program, students had to create innovative business models in teamwork. The business model CANVAS (Ostwalder, 2008) is a strategic management tool and a lean startup template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a company´s or product's value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs. Innovations will arise and grow on crossing borders which already exist. To stimulate thinking out of the box, students have been trained in skills to develop an attitude of converging. Bringing your mind in the here and now, make yourself aware of idea killers and stimulate creative thinking by using five different techniques (Byttebier, 2002): Creative perception, Suspend judgement, Flexible association, Diverge and Develop imagination.


During the final day students had to think about the connection between entrepreneurship and learning. What does educating entrepreneurship in vocational education require for learning itself? Results by students The task requirements of the results had been defined by HAUP in Vienna and Stoas Vilentum in Wageningen. Each student had to deliver an individual reflection report about his/her own process of learning and insights, according to the reflection cycle of Korthagen. Beside the individual task, students had the task to work out an innovative business model in small groups, as well as preparing and sharing a poster presentation in front of the group. When the results were matching the defined criteria, the students were awarded the certificates. The whole short course had a study load of 56 study hours, which means two European Credits, according to the ECTS systematic structure in Higher Education across Europe. REFLECTIONS Student: Stefanie Graf “During this week I was thinking a lot about teaching methods. My personal experiences during my studies at the veterinary school have been rather one-sided, as the professors there mainly used power-point presentations for their lectures. Of course there were big differences regarding the quality of these presentations, but I would hardly think beyond that when judging my own learning experience. Now as I am working in a teaching and extension team I encounter a lot of new aspects of teaching. I am very interested in all the new methods which I get to know but at the same time I am often critical. On Wednesday of this week when we were doing a wrap up of the excursion, I had one of these critical moments. I would therefore like to share my thoughts about the use of the pinwand and pin cards in particular. Whenever I am in the position of a student working with pin cards, I often have the feeling that it is impossible for me to grasp the „whole picture“. The information on the cards often is not readable and thus only heard. I found out that I am not an audio learning type and thus miss a big part of the information. This is frustrating and lowers my concentration level because I am likely to lose connection whenever I can’t follow well. On Thursday however, I had a totally different experience with the same method. When we were introduced to the CANVAS model, we collected our previous knowledge on post-its and combined it on the wall. I appreciated the chance to think about it on my own first and then hear the thoughts of the others. I think what made me feel comfortable in this case was the pre-drawn model structure on the white board. Having the whole concept in front of me all the time helped me seeing the « big picture » of what we were doing. These experiences made me realize that it is very important to choose the right teaching method for the right situation. A method is not good or bad per se, it very much depends on what we want to achieve with it.


As a second part of this reflection I would like to talk about the role of a learners’ personality in a teaching environment. In an introductory video on thinking out of the box I was struck by the idea of trying to imagine myself as a kid and how I would have approached things back then. I remembered how me and my friends used to play in the woods and spend hours and days with the construction of a water supply system from a small river to our treehouse. This kind of endurance and passionate fever I often miss nowadays when working on something an I realized that whenever I want to motivate myself, I need to try to connect whatever I am doing to my personal interests. This also means that I can adapt for example a given task to a context of my own interest, which is international cooperation in my case. I applied this several times during this week and was delighted by the new ideas I got for my private project in Kenya after starting to look at it from an entrepreneurial perspective. Finally I would like to point out the importance of the social aspects when working in a group as we have done during this week. During having a look at slides with optical illusions I noticed that everybody was paying great attention and there was a free and open atmosphere among the participants than I hadn’t observed up to that point. This made me realize how useful a simple activity can be to get everybody involved and to promote social interaction.” Student: Andre Stucki “Why do farmers need to become entrepreneurs? On Monday morning, Leopold Kirner introduced us to the situation in the EU dairy market. The topic is important to me, because it shows the need for farmers to stay flexible in a free market environment. In addition, regarding the small structures of the sector, the situation of Austrian and Switzerland are comparable. In my opinion, dairy farmers with high input strategies are at risk, as their profitability mostly depends on the price of inputs. After the abolishment of the milk quota, many farmers try to compete through economies of scale. Instead, we should advise them to optimize their income by reducing their input costs and interest expenditures. The discussion enabled me to predict the future situation of the Swiss dairy sector after a possible free trade agreement with the EU. I will use this experience in future when it comes to consultancy for farmers as well as in discussions with my peer workers. How to develop a strategy? A Methodological reflection. On Monday Walter Wagner introduced us to the basics of strategic management. He introduced the lesson with a role-play, in which we were supposed to propose strategic improvement measures for a brewery. However, the introduction did not include any visualization and the goal hence remained unclear for large parts of the group. Although the lecturer aggressively played the disappointed brewery’s CEO, the group’s feedback held off. The result was a global confusion among the group members. Diversity of methods is crucial for providing rhythm to a lesson. However, a sound introduction is inevitable for success and adaptions might be needed in an intercultural context! Female entrepreneurship – Which


consequences for mixed teams? On Wednesday afternoon, Beate Kralicek introduced us to the role and challenges of female entrepreneurs. We found, that female entrepreneurs often work harder, take less risk and are more focused on relations than their male counterparts. This is why a good mentorship could be most valuable for female innovators to make their way into business. However, for the work in mixed groups, the best results may be achieved through complementarity of the genders. In order to empower female team members, one has to seek equity in the distribution of responsibilities and to ensure trust in decision-making. When I work in mixed teams, I often do invest more time into caring on relationships. In addition, I always try to make my own propositions and decisions transparent towards all team members. In future, I will also try to facilitate access to male dominated networks for female team members in order to contribute my part to gender equity. Thinking out of the box – sources of personal inspiration. On Thursday, Jan-Willem Noom introduced us to the out-of-the-box thinking. Hereby, we had to choose a picture, which represented a source of inspiration to us. I choose the picture of a female bus driver, which renewed the painting of her vessels wheel. To me, this picture was very inspiring, because the women on the picture seemed to be in a state of “flow”. It hence must have been the passion, which caught my eye in the first moment. Experiencing a person, which acts with passion, will probably inspire everybody. In my future teaching activities, I hence will try to both act with passion by my own, as well as to find out about the passions of my students. To relate to the passion of students in teaching, can truly inspire them and helps them to reach an intrinsic level of motivation.” Student: Elke Schmölz “When Jan-Willem Noom started with the saying “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” it somehow immediately soothed my nerves, because it confirmed me, that I had landed in the right course with space for wise philosophy, which I am really a great fan of. Taking a glance at the course of the program, I had the impression of a very tight, but interesting week awaiting me/us. The first day was mainly about the urgency of farmers to become innovative entrepreneurs, how to do so with the right strategic management, at the right time, following the proper values and objectives under the very different conditions of a company/farm/cooperative. Leopold (Kirner, red.) held the opening session by giving us an insight into the challenges farmers are facing today, which initially did not really encourage me to start an agricultural enterprise – on the contrary, it was quite frightening to me. But when I look back to the whole week, I think it was very well thought, because the following items on the agenda revealed many strategies and approaches how to be successful, and it is really helpful to have in mind that running a business doesn’t mean to just have a good idea and dream a little bit, but that it is quite a challenge, which is easier to manage if we are aware of the threats and weaknesses as well as of the opportunities and


strengths, too. (…) Walter Wagner introduced us to different models of strategy-finding and ways of analyzing a strategy with regard to its usefulness, among others, the SWOT-analysis, which we needed later on for our group-project, but also the importance of a goal being SMART to assure a good implementation of the chosen strategy. Will Linder’s lectures during the week were about clearing up what sustainable development really means, which qualities an entrepreneur should unite and how important a good work-life-balance for an entrepreneur is. It made me think a lot about my lifestyle, that I should probably take more time to reload my batteries. Later, on Thursday, Jan-Willem Noom showed us some possibilities of how to relax, calm down and find new ideas, which I appreciated a lot, too. The following words Willi Linder shared with us I will hopefully remember until the end of my days: “Entrepreneurs have a responsibility not only to their investors and shareholders, but also to nature, society and to the future generations.” A good example of how to live this responsibility, is the sociocratic CSA system of Ochsenherz, which I find really impressive. I already knew Ochsenherz before, but had never been there – the visit made me very happy. (…) I am glad to hear a professor (Willi Linder, red.) emphasizing that wealth doesn’t mean that we can lean ourselves back without sharing and giving back anything to nature and also that small ideas often are enough to work with, that it is not necessary to always create something completely new, and that everybody can learn how to become an entrepreneur. I liked the part of drawing the “perfect” entrepreneur a lot. Not only did it foster our creativity and was a welcome change to listening and discussing, but also it brought the people in the group closer the each other. I agree with Willi Linder in many points, because he seems to see the world and the opportunities it gives to us pretty similar to how I perceive it. When I think of the carelessness of some people regarding to their environment, immediately negative feelings and thoughts arise in me. Gladly, I can now remember Beate Kralicek’s words, saying that we should be conscious of choosing positive wording when formulating the goals, because otherwise negativity might win and harm us. I am very thankful for that input of hers. I think that Jan-Willem Noom and Wim Ridder did a great job in arranging the very intense Thursday by varying working on a business model with illustrative, inspiring and imaginative parts, although I already was very tired today, because the day before was really long for me. (…) Wow, this was such an intense, but astoundingly enriching week to me, which also ended up in some new important friendships. I’m definitely happy for having been part of it!” Student: Arjanneke van Kampen “The most interesting lesson today was the lecture of Willi Linder. Thinking about innovations in the sector and how to convince other people. By focusing on the majority of the breakers and critics and not try to convince people who think exactly the opposite / feel of what you feel. It was an eye-opener I have long struggled with. In the future, I would still be in conversation with people who think the opposite to learn how they


view the world and what similarities we have, but I will try to focus on how I can show people what the profits of a change could be opposite from what they 'lose'. The most impressive thing I found the second day is Ochsenherz ecological farm. How they got to this concept, what ideas they have for the future. The idea of the farm in order to focus on the concept rather than the sale of organically grown vegetables is very innovative. The strategy to work in a community where everyone can help on the farm and that all true concept to sell instead of vegetables. I liked that I could ask a question that they do not yet over had thought after "how do you make sure that you reach the current generation about seven years. In the lesson of Willi Linder we focussed on competences for entrepreneurs. Which perspectives are needed and how you can change your perspective in the last lesson of Beate Kralicek was a true resource for the evening. I liked the idea of small ideas like the raw plug, an idea doesn’t have not be difficult or extremely big. ‘Never say it can’t be a good idea, otherwise someone else would have had it’, words by Willi Linder. To get insight about why people want to buy something has a lot to do with insight of the human behavior. Tell good story’s transparency and change of tactics. Not we want to sell this IPhone, because it has this and this so buy our IPhone. But this is our concept this is so great about it please buy our organic vegetables. I’m going to try this approach if I ever want people to like my idea/innovation. I have … in mind, these are the plus points and this could work on your profit, please help me innovate. The fourth day Wim Ridder started by showing us a business model, I liked the lesson of Jan-Willem Noom most because it was creative and let think and look in different perspectives. The meditation lesson was in a very busy week a welcome change of perspective. I felt more relaxed, how beautiful it would be if during a busy workday you could take this lesson as an inspiration and just meditate for 5 minutes, to be in the moment a ‘recharge’.” EVALUATION The 15 students were asked to give a written feedback on the fifth day of this study week. The outcome was very positive as shown below. Two students, however, missed an exchange of information and knowledge gain on intercultural aspects, such as comparing the different agricultural education systems - criticism which has to be taken seriously in terms of designing a further ENTRE study week. Student Responses to the ENTREPRO Project Week „Wonderful people participated, including all the teachers and organizers.“ „It was a wonderful week, I enjoyed the program immensely.“ „Thank you so so so so so much for this week.“ „I really enjoyed working in international groups and making new friends.“ „Thank you for an amazing week!“ „Thank you for the great experience!“ „Great topics, interesting methods, I learned a lot this week for myself.“


„The presentations were inspiring.“ The following chart represents the averages of 15 student responses on the topic of feedback for the ENTREPRO Project Week.

Figure 1: Feedback on the ENTREPRO Project Week Literature, references: Bohm, D. (1996) On Dialogue. London: Routledge. Bohm, D., Factor, D. & Garrett, P. (1991) Dialogue - A Proposal. Available on Web on October 1, 2014: http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/bohm_dialogue.htm. Burg, C. van der., Sijsling, H. (2008). Basisboek Activerende didactiek en samenwerkend leren, Zo motiveer je leerlingen in het voortgezet onderwijs, Amersfoort: CPS. Byttebier, I. (2002) Creativiteit – Hoe? Zo! Tielt: Uitgeverij Lannoo. Ebbens, S & Ettekoven, S. (2005) Samenwerkend leren, praktijkboek, Groningen/Houten: Wolters Noordhoff. Enqvist, J & Aarnio, H. (2004) ‘Crucial dialogic actions in co-constructive knowledge creation in online learning environment’, in Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2004, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, June 21-26, Lugano, Switzerland (pp. 2576-2583). Faltin, G., Zimmer, J. (2012) Innovative entrepreneurship & entrepreneurship education: a dossier from the world economic forum. Berlin: International academy for innovative pedagogy, psychology and economics gGmbH (INA) at the free university of Berlin.


Isaacs, W. (1999) Dialogue and the art of thinking together: A pioneering Approach to communicating in business and in life, New York: Doubleday. Jong, F. (2015) Understanding the difference: Responsive education – A search for ‘a difference which makes a difference’ for transition, learning and education, Wageningen: Stoas Vilentum University of applied sciences Kessels, J, (2008) Vrije ruimte, praktijkboek, Amsterdam: Boom. Noom, J.W., (2012) ‘Towards a virtual dialogue’, in Proceedings from ENTER Study Days, pp. 19-27, Plovdiv: Agricultural University. Noom, J.W. (2013) ‘Active learning and participation’, Vocation Education, Educational Journal, pp. 305-314, Sofia: Az-Buki publishing house. Noom, J.W., Sonneveld, A. (2014) ‘Activating methods and socratic dialogue’, Vocational education, Educational journal, pp. 489-494, Sofia: Az-Buki publishing house. Veen, T. van der, Wal, J. van der (2008) Van leertheorie naar onderwijspraktijk, Groningen/Houten: Wolters-Noordhoff.


TEACHING FACTS WITH FICTION IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

MARCEL ROBISCHON

Abstract Fictional literature is frequently used to teach in the humanities and social sciences, yet it plays a minor role in the life sciences and environmental studies. While it can contribute little to improve mathematical thinking or analytical rigor, fiction is a powerful tool to complement "real life" experience and to help to establish affective meaning, to stir “narrative appetite” and "epistemic curiosity" and to induce reflection and debate leading to construction of knowledge. We are working towards teaching and learning concepts that employ fiction, aiming at studying its potential to induce mutually supportive development of language competences and biological understanding. Stories and fiction as teaching tools Storytelling is an ancient and universal cultural practice. Stories or narratives, in the words of Bruner (1990, 43) consist of “unique sequences of events, mental states, or happenings involving human beings as characters or actors” and are “the oldest and most natural form of sense making” (Jonassen and Hernandez-Serrano, 2002, 66). Narrative structures appear deeply inherent in our experience of the world - "we see and think about the world in the pattern of stories" (Smith 1992, 62) and "inhabit an endlessly storied world" (Cronon 1992). The exchange of stories is thus necessarily a way to exchange information, to induce reflection and debate leading to construction of knowledge – in other words: to instruct and to teach. One obvious and everyday life example can be found in the anecdotal narratives offered to any novice in any profession by those older, experienced colleagues, sometimes akin to tall tales, sometimes well-meaningly shared warning examples. Also in formal learning environments there are vestiges of the ancient art of the narrative to be found. The teacher as a story teller is a likeable character, whom those who did not experience him or her in their own education may encounter in literature such as McCourt’s “Teacher Man”. "The best teachers are the best storytellers” Smith (1992, 61) declares, and a growing body of instructional methodological literature reflects that the strength of the narrative in education is continuously being rediscovered as a core teaching skill. Stories that we learn from do not necessarily have to be “real life” stories chronicling experiences and events that are ‘true’ in a scientific, historical or legal sense. Davis (2007) observes that "...despite rich resources for stories, there remains a void best filled by fiction". This is illustrated by classical examples of fiction created specifically for classroom or study use, such as “Le Tour de la France par deux enfants” (Bruno 1877) and “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” (Lagerlöf 1907), both written


for teaching geography. More recent is the genre of "modern economic mystery" for teaching economics (O'Donnell 1989). In many cases fiction intended originally for a wider readership has potential as a teaching tool. Many authors report work aiming,"to combine the ancient art of story-telling and the modern scientific way of teaching" by using fiction in school or college (Persson and Persson 2008). Subjects for which such teaching concepts have been reported include economics (O'Donnell 1989), philosophy (Bowlden 1990), history (Bunch-Lyons 2000; den Heyer and Fidyk 2007), law (Davis 1997), health care education (Persson and Persson 2008) and psychiatry (Douglas 2008). Fiction appears particular popular in geography (Davenport 1981; Silverman 2001), especially historical and social geography (Lamme 1977; Brooker-Gross 1991). The latter is not surprising, with the use of fiction also having a strong tradition in teaching sociology (Lena and London 1979; Cosbey 1997; Hartman 2005; Persson and Persson 2008). In contrast it appears a rather rare approach in biology – where however a few examples are published in which science fiction is used in an imaginative way (Marks 1978, Cruz 2013). There is as yet also little published on fiction in teaching in environmental education and related fields, even though the application in the subjects mentioned above suggest that similar approaches could be taken in that genuinely interdisciplinary area to which all these fields border. Also, there is a number of works of fiction that would lend themselves for their topic, ranging from examples such as Edward Abbey’s ‘Monkey Wrench gang’ (1975) to works that portray extinct species in a fictional manner, often geared to a juvenile readership, such as Allan W. Eckert's works ‘The Great Auk’ (1963) and ‘The silent sky’ (1965), describing the demise of the Great Auk and the passenger pigeon respectively, the latter being also the topic of a work of juvenile fiction by James Ralph Johnson titled ‘The last Passenger’ (1965). A remarkable example of that genre is Fred Bodworth’s ‘Last of the Curlews’ (1954), which was read in schools and in environmental education teacher's workshop in North America in the nineteen seventies (Tanner 1974, 17; Tanner 1974, 78). Interestingly fiction also is utilized in educational studies and teacher's training (Mottart et al. 2009; Poirier et al. 2007; Keene 1987; Tanner 1974, 78). In these and other studies it has been repeatedly confirmed that "fictional narratives can become powerful teaching tools in all kinds of educational settings" (Mottart et al. 2009), and for students "novels can be effective learning tools" (Lamme 1977). Fiction as a tool for community-forming and individualization Some of the positive effects of working with fiction are deduced from what many authors have noted about communication and learning with stories. One key notion appears to be the function of fiction as a communicative tool (Avraamidou and Osborne 2009). According to Strandt (2001) "Narrative stories may … become a vehicle through which experiences are learned, shared, and communicated amongst people". Several authors maintain that fiction can establish a shared experience (Cosbey 1997; Hartman 2005; Davis 2007). It can be argued that the use of fiction will thus benefit the


learning processes in a group. At the same time work with fiction can support individualized learning. Cosbey (1997) notes that “one advantage of having students use fictional works for their analyses is that the analysis is not done for the student but rather by the student" [italics mine]. Learning from fiction therefore is a form of truly active learning. Persson and Persson (2008) explain that "Reading fiction, you make your own individual interpretation on the basis of who you are, your emotions, your moods, etc." Smith (1992, 63) finds that “A story is a world that can be entered and explored" – and every reader may explore this fictional world for different discoveries. Fictional worlds, enriched and simplified Fiction necessarily simplifies and organizes the world it describes and creates narrative coherence. When fiction presents facts and contexts it thus delivers easier accessible scenarios (Brooker-Gross 1991, Bixler 2007) and focus the attention onto illustrative, often unusual examples. Fictional stories thus can be used to alleviate finding meaning in an “overwhelmingly crowded and disordered chronological reality” of “a conflicted and contradictory world” (Cronon 1992). Nonetheless fiction can also offer encounters with more complex realities, namely by providing to the reader imagery of a world that is richer in certain phenomena. It can provide observations that the learner cannot or will not make himself or herself, for example of situations that belong to distant lands or times. Hoy and Elbow (1976) declare that "... well written characterizations of landscapes or accounts of daily life can provide students with information that otherwise could be obtained only by travel in the region or, in the case of past conditions, by no other means”. Den Heyer and Fidyk (2007) point out that "historical fiction may offer a more plausible representation of the past than those sources typically accepted as more factual". Examples can be found in fiction that is set in a past in which the human living conditions and the environment human societies’ life was embedded in were vastly different (e.g. in the ‘Palaeofiction’ by Jean M. Auel or Björn Kurtén). Some literary works (such as the works by Eckert and Bodsworth mentioned above) may be set in a world that still was home to a large number of species that are now extinct, leaving us deprived of the chance to see them and to be inspired by first hand encounters. Even if we won't see them in reality, in reading well-written fiction accounts a world that is lost to us will come alive and to our attention. Attention and affection Fiction will not only kindle attention to those parts of the world that are irretrievably lost and hence out of our daily experience, but will also prompt the reader to "really pay attention" to phenomena and processes that occur around us, but may normally be overlooked: "An author of novels makes you notice” (Cosbey 1997). Novels and any well-written fiction in addition do not only increase our awareness, they also engage us with what we observe. Cronon (1992) points out that "a good story makes us care about its subject in a way that a chronicle does not” – and one may add,


a textbook typically does not either. Supporting the development of environmental attitudes is essential in environmental education and related fields such as conservation biology. Pooley and O'Conner (2000) stress the importance of the affective domain in environmental education and the importance of "targeting both emotions and beliefs in educating people about the environment". This has been supported in a teaching context by several authors who observed that fiction can create empathy (Brooker-Gross 1991) and “enhance empathic and ethical capacity” (Douglas 2008). Boredom and textbooks It is well established that fiction promotes student interest (Marsh et al. 2012, and references therein). Long et al. (1989) declare that "Interest ratings were also significantly associated with vividness of mental imagery and with imagery reported before and after reading". "Bringing the subject matter to life by the use of the novel might help to generate the sort of interest that facilitates learning" Lena and London (1979) presume, and point out that fiction can be a "welcome relief from introductory chapters of textbooks". This is noteworthy given that sometimes text books are at times given part of the blame for what some media portray as a “literacy crisis” – for which there is however conflicting evidence (Ohmann 1987) - textbooks may be better than some authors find. However, it is obvious that students often find "characters and fiction more inviting that standard texts" (Bunch-Lyons 2000). Lamme (1977), using novels in geography teaching found that "One of their useful characteristics is that most are fun to read, unlike some required readings". In fact, publications spanning several decades attest that students generally enjoy work with fiction (Marks 1978; Lena and London 1997; Davis 2007; Bixler 2007). Hoy and Elbow (1976) put forward that "Whereas a textbook, even a well-written one, may fail to hold a student's attention or stimulate him to attempt further reading, an exciting and informative [italics mine] novel may produce the desired response". Once students are “reminded, in reading the novels, that there are other forms of literature besides text books" (Keene 1987) they may welcome more. Some authors use the term “narrative appetite” (Avraamidou and Osborne 2009; Norris et al. 2005), to describe that demand for a continuation, quite like McCourt’s (2005) students asking "Hey, teacher man, you got any more stories?" Critical thinking and fictionality Student interest stimulated by work with fiction can be surmised to be instrumental in achieving a more profound engagement with the text. Several studies have found the use of fiction to positively influence student’s opinion forming skills and critical thinking (Knippels et al. 2008; Cosbey 1997). Fiction also has been found a catalyst for lively, intellectually stimulating, emotional class discussions (Bunch-Lyons 2000; Keene 1987; Brooker-Gross 1991; Knippels et al. 2008). The effect of fostering critical thinking is not only important as a generally desirable learning outcome, but may also have the positive effect of strengthening


the usefulness of fiction by dealing with the challenges resulting from factual information being embedded into a fictional context. As Olin-Scheller and Tengberg (2012) point out “in modern literature the boundaries between fact and fiction are often blurred" and Mink (1978) warns that "Nothing in the fictional narrative marks out the difference between the true and the imaginary" and Butler et al. (2012) considers "... learning from fictional stories a double-edged sword: people can gain knowledge about the world, but they can also acquire false knowledge". This problem can only be overcome when the text is taken exactly for what it is: fiction, "an act of boundary crossing which, nonetheless, keeps in view what has been overstepped," (Iser 1993). Olin-Scheller and Tengberg (2012) postulate that "the idea of students learning from literature, or using literature as a source of knowledge, must be accompanied by serious teaching on critical awareness and on the nature of fictionality. ‘Artistic license’ and ‘literary fancy’ being integral to fictional texts have to be taken account of when working with fiction in teaching scientific content. It will be the teachers’ or lecturers’ task to point out the purely fictional elements and initiate a discussion as to their purpose and the reasons why they were introduced by the – e.g. lack of information or perhaps to “heighten an effect”. It is important to draw attention to the gaps that are filled with what is not knowledge, but artistic description an informed guess – something rather common in the life sciences and environmental studies. Notably in the environmental field anyone is exposed to a large number of texts that are not strictly scientifically grounded, but are written for example for campaigning, and thus appeal to emotions rather than analytical thinking. To successfully use fictional texts in environmental education it is, obviously, important to select such fictional texts that pose challenges appropriate to the age and abilities of students, and to ensure that the artistic form and the scientific content do not contradict to a degree that is unsurmountable in the specific learning situation. Even the biologically most accurate and most illustrative fictional text still needs to be combined with careful instruction and integration into well-planned learning activities to become useful to its full potential. Even if researched meticulously – which many works of fiction with biological reference are – literary works may be "highly selective in presentation of details of life and landscape, and generally reflect the attitudes and biases of the author to a greater extent than academic works. Furthermore, many literary works omit background material that is not essential to the development of the story line or thesis" (Hoy and Elbow 1976). Fictional works may be topical a lot longer than scientific data. A novel dating back a few years may be timeless as to its artistic value, but the story may have been inspired by scientific hypotheses that have meanwhile been overruled. For the understanding of biological principles that appear in fiction additional complementary material or instruction may therefore be essential. Keene (1987), apart from giving a "survey of basic information"


also refers the students to the textbook for background information and provides his book list with annotations on aspects that are to be kept in mind while reading. In a similar manner Bunch-Lyons (2000) uses a combination of lecture, reading and discussion when using fiction in class, and Bixler (2007) suggests that teachers “may assign reading to be done outside of class, then use small group or general classroom discussion...” chaired by the teacher. Cosbey (1997) and other authors who teach with fiction, have their students produce a synopsis of the story and then "use theories and ideas from the reading and lectures"... to analyze the novel, i.e. they are encouraged to build the bridge between textbooks and scientific or scholarly literature and the content of the fictional text. More than ever before in the history of learning there is a chance for the reader to rapidly check the facts that are touched upon in the text, which in itself is a valuable learning activity. Learning activities involving fiction and storytelling Fictional literature can be employed with the caveats addressed above in multiple ways in teaching. "The possibilities range from incorporating a few relevant quotations from literary works into lectures for illustrative purposes or dramatic effect to developing entire courses around the use of literary works" (Hoy and Elbow 1976). A typical learning activity may involve the students producing a summary of the book and present how it touches and reflects on scientific aspects developed in coursework or in texts of different genres (Keene 1987). This activity could also involve supplementary “take-home” questions that encourage students to build their own synthesis based on the fictional text, non-fiction support material and previous discussion in class (Keene 1987). It emerged that asking students to construct such questions themselves and to discuss them in class “encourages students to see the linkages between general background material, scholarly interpretations, and novels" (Keene 1987). Following the example of Hartman (2005), guiding questions on the text can be provided to initiate and stimulate discussion and reflection. Students can further be invited to bring in their own experiences and observations into the discussion and to share imagery that is evoked to them by the text. Once students talk about their own experience and observations they are only a step or two away from writing their own narrative. According to Kolb (1984, p. 38) “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. Therefore the transformation of own experience into a fictional text can be presumed to be an extremely valuable learning activity. As early as 1907 Roosevelt postulated that a “student of nature should be able to see keenly and write interestingly and should have an imagination that will enable him to interpret the facts”. Considering that the merits of the application of creative writing in teaching in the sciences including biology have been confirmed by several authors (Dolberry 2010), such an assignment could be developed into an effective and creative learning exercise. Lena and London (1979) pointed out that working with novels can "encourage a high


degree of creative thinking". This creativity can be employed right away in class to frame stories that may be discovered all around in our living environment into plots. Writing their own fiction based on natural history and conservation biology facts will make students realize that, as Cronon (1992) puts it "Nature and the universe do not tell stories; we do". It can be expected to support the development of competencies that will be essential to those learners who remain active in the field of environmental conservation: an understanding of the power of language and of stories as an ancient tool to communicate about the world we live in. Literature, references: Abbey, E. (1975). The monkey wrench gang. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Avraamidou, L. Osborne, J. (2009) ‘The Role of Narrative in Communicating Science’. Int J Sci Educ. 31(12), 683-707. Bixler, A. (2007) ‘Teaching evolution with the aid of science fiction’, Am Biol Teach. 69(6):337–9. Bodsworth, F. (1990). Last of the Curlews, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. Bowlden, L.S. (1990) "They Read Novels, Don't They?". Using Novels in Teaching Philosophy’, in Teach Philos. 13(4):359-64. Brooker-Gross, S.R. (1991) ‘Teaching about Race, Gender, Class and Geography through Fiction’, J Geogr High Educ. 15(1):35-47. Bruner, J. (1990) Acts of Meaning, Cambridge (Mass.): Harward University Press. Bruno, G. (A. Fouillée) (1877) Le Tour de la France par deux enfants, Paris: Belin. Bunch-Lyons, B.A. (2000) ‘A Novel Approach: Using Fiction by African American Women to Teach Black Women's History’, J Am Hist. 86(4):1700-8. Butler, A.C., Dennis, N.A., Marsh, E.J. (2012) ‘Inferring facts from fiction: Reading correct and incorrect information affects memory for related information’, Memory, 20(5):487-98. Cosbey, J. (1997) ‘Using Contemporary Fiction to Teach Family Issues’, Teach Sociol. 25(3):227-33. Cronon, W. (1992) ‘A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative’, J Am Hist., 78(4):1347-76. Cruz, R.A.L. (2013) ‘Aliens in the Classroom: Fantastical Creatures as Tools in Teaching Biology’, Am Biol Teach. 5(4):257-26. Davenport, D.P. (1981) ‘Caravans and Classrooms: The Novel as a Teaching Aid’, J Geogr. 80(7):259-63. Davis, D.S. (1997) ‘Tell me a story: using short fiction in teaching law and bioethics’, J. Legal Ed. 47(2):240-5. Delgado, R. (1989) ‘Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative’, Mich. L. Rev. 87(8):2411-41. den Heyer, K., Fidyk, A. (2007) ‘Configuring Historical Facts through Historical Fiction: Agency, Art-in-Fact, and Imagination as Stepping Stones between Then and Now’, Educ Theory. 57(2):141-57. Dolberry, A.A. (2010) ‘The Sci-Fi Microbe: Reinforcing Understanding of Microbial Structures and their Significance through a Creative Writing Exercise’, J Microbiol Biol Educ. 11(2):175-6.


Douglas, B.C. (2008) ‘Dickens' characters on the couch: an example of teaching psychiatry using literature’, Med Humanit. 34(2):64-9. Eckert, A.W. (1963) The Great Auk, Boston: Little, Brown. Eckert, A.W. (1965) The Silent Sky, Boston: Little, Brown. Frisch, J.K., Saunders, G. (2008) ‘Using stories in an introductory college biology course’, J Biol Educ. 42(4),164-9. Hartman, C.J. (2005) ‘Enriching Sociology 100: Using the Novel "Things Fall Apart"’, Teach Sociol, 33(3):317-22. Hoy, D.R. Elbow, G.S. (1976) ‘The use of literary works in teaching Latin American geography’, J. Geogr, 75(9):556-69. Iser, W. (1993) The Fictive and the Imaginary: Charting Literary Anthropology, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Keene, T.H. (1987) ‘The Use of Fiction in Teaching Modern Asian and African History’, Teach. Hist. 12(2), 18-25. Knippels, M.C.P.J., Severiens, S.E., Klop T. (2009) ‘Education through fiction: acquiring opinion-forming skills in the context of genomics’, in J Sci Educ. 31(15):2057–83. Kolb, D.A.(1984) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lagerlöf, S. (1907) The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, [Original title: Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige], New York: Doubleday, Page & Co. Lamme, A.J. (1977) ‘The use of novels in geography classrooms’, J. Geogr. 76(2), 66–8. Lena, H.F., London, B. (1979) ‘An Introduction to Sociology through Fiction Using Kesey's "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"’, Teach Sociol, 6(2), 123-31. Long, S.A., Winograd, P.N., Bridge C.A. 1989. ‘The effects of reader and text characteristics on imagery reported during and after reading’, in Read Res Q, 24(3), 353-72. Marks, G.H. (1978) ‘‘Teaching biology with science fiction’, in Am Biol Teach, 40(5), 275-9. Marsh, E.J., Butler A.C., Umanath S. (2012) ‘Using Fictional Sources in the Classroom: Applications from Cognitive Psychology’, Educ Psychol Rev, 24(3), 449 -69. Mink, L.O. (1978) ‘Narrative Forms as a cognitive instrument’, in Canary, R.H., Kozicki, H. (eds) Writing of History, pp. 129 – 49. Mottart, A., Vanhooren S., Rutten, K., Soetaert R. (2009) ‘Fictional narratives as didactical tools. Using Frank McCourt's Teacher Man in pre-service teacher education’, Educ. Stud, 35(5), 493-502. Norris, S.P., Guilbert, S.M., Smith, M.L., Hakimelahi, S., Phillips, L.M. (2005) ‘A theoretical framework for narrative explanation in science’, Sci Educ. 89(4), 535-63. O'Donnell, M.G. (1989) ‘A Historical Note on the Use of Fiction to Teach Principles of Economics’, J Econ Educ, 20(3), 314-20. Ohmann, R. (1987) ‘The Strange Case of Our Vanishing Literacy’, in Richard Ohmann, Politics of Letters. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.


Olin-Scheller, C., Tengberg, M. (2012) "If It Ain't True, Then It's Just a Book!", The Reading and Teaching of Faction Literature’, in J Res Read, 35(2), 153-68. Persson, I., Persson, K. (2008) ‘Fiction and film as teaching instruments in higher health care education’. Journal of further and higher education, 32(2), 111-8. Poirier, R., Colarusso, E., Bischoff, A., Robertson, E. (2007) ‘Exploring adolescent development through the use of popular non-fiction novels’, in Teach Teach Educ, 23(8), 1345-9. Pooley, J., O'Conner, M. (2000) E‘nvironmental education and attitudes: Emotions and beliefs are what is needed’, in Environ Behav, 32(5):711-23. Roosevelt, T. 1907. “Nature Fakers”. Everybody’s Magazine, 17(3):427-30. Schank, R.C., Berman, T.R. (2002) ‘The pervasive role of stories in knowledge and action’, in Green, M.C., Strange, J.J., Brock T.C., (eds.) Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, pp. 315–41. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Silverman, S.E. (1977) ‘The use of novels in teaching cultural geography of the United States’. J. Geogr. 76(4),140-6. Smith, F. (1992) To Think: in language, learning and education. London: Routledge. Strandt, S. (2011) ‘Science Narratives for Teaching and Learning’, in Gouzouasis, P., ed. Pedagogy in a new tonality: Teacher inquiries on creative tactics, strategies, graphics organizers, and visual journals in the K-12 classroom, pp. 227–34, Rotterdam, Boston: Sense Publishers. Tanner, R.T. (1974) Ecology, Environment and Education. Lincoln, Neb.: Professional Educators Publications.


SYSTEM THINKING, BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. WHAT DO WE TEACH THE FUTURE

GENERATION? WORKSHOP ON ECOLOGY AND LEARNING

SANDRA VAN DER WIELEN How is system thinking and biodiversity linked to sustainable development and how do we prepare the teachers or educators for the challenges in the future. A workshop about connections, borders, diversity, stability, resilience, making choices and the questions what, how and why. Education for sustainable development = interdisciplinary education Education for sustainable development allows every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2005). Among the skills that are mentioned above are: critical thinking, envisioning and system thinking. The study Nature and Communication I am docent of the study Nature and Communication at Stoas. This is my third year. So I’m pretty new in education. But I have a great background in the nature education field (nonformal learning). What is the study about?

learning about nature;

learning from nature;

learning for nature. Students become vocational teachers in a nature related vocation or ... environmental educators in nonformal learning. In both cases they will need specific knowledge, skills, attitudes and values either to prepare their students or apprentices for the future OR to be able to face the challenges of the future and to make a contribution in the transition that is needed for a sustainable future. So … that’s why I look at the curriculum or more exactly the green vocational knowledge base of my study Nature and Communication.

to give the students what they need;

to adress the challenges of the future;

to meet the wishes of the sector;

to react on the changes in society. What did I use as input?

BENELUX conference on nature education and education for a sustainable development. Pop up university for transition! (Benelux, 2016);

working field commission (vocational knowledge) ;

Stan Frijters – Practical ESD for vocational teachers (Frijters, 2016) https://www.duurzaamdoor.nl/nieuws/leren-voor-duurzame-ontwikkeling-gewoon-doen;

https://www.duurzaamdoor.nl/nieuws/leren-voor-duurzame-ontwikkeling-gewoon-doen

https://www.duurzaamdoor.nl/nieuws/leren-voor-duurzame-ontwikkeling-gewoon-doen


Arjen Wals & Roel van Raaij participated in University Educators for Sustainable Development (UE4SD, 2015);

Frank de Jong - understanding the difference (Jong, 2015). And what is the output?

Shift of knowledge about nature to ... skills ... - make connections;

- critical thinking; - system thinking.

... so that the students will be able to:

- connect humans with nature; - make connections between actors; - know why they do this!

Ingredients of my lessons:

- inspiration; - opinion;

- literature (both sides); - assignment with creation; - myself … see below!

Biologist Idealist Educator Stubborn Optimist Curious Mother of two children Instructor in Scouting and much more … Practical assignment with a stick:

stand in two rows on both sides of a stick (e.g. bamboo);

let the stick rest on two of your fingers (see picture);

move the stick with each other to the ground;

never break the contact of your finger with the stick.

You will see that it is very hard to move the stick to the ground. The more you are a team, the better it goes. This example proves that there are different influences on a system, which are sometimes hard to understand. You all want the stick to go down, but when you try to do this, it goes up! Relation theory of ‘Van Leeuwen’ This ecological theory is about boundaries and the relation between different systems with each other. It is about variation and equality and the influences on diversity and stability.


Van Leeuwen proved that space and time are contrary to each other. He proved that a system which is highly variable in space (pattern) has a great biodiversity, whereas a system with a lot of equality in space has not. Contrary a lot of variation in time (dynamics) means less biodiversity and continuity in the process (no variation in time) means more biodiversity. (van Leeuwen, 1965) (van Leeuwen, 1966) The more biodiversity, the more stability, resilience or resistance (M. Scheffer, 2001) the more sustainable the system! This theory suggests that we will need diversity in space and continuity in time. So a continuous process and a pattern with a lot of boundaries. Boundaries can be sharp or soft. E.g. between land and water. A sharp boundary will be a steep bank. A soft boundary will be a gradual changing bank. Soft boundaries are actually a lot of smaller boundaries together. That’s why we should prefer soft boundaries over sharp boundaries, because there will be more diversity and therefor stability. If you translate this to more social constructions it means promoting differences which evokes cooperation rather than equality which evokes concurrence. System thinking in my lessons These lessons I discuss with my students and we think together how we could incorporate these lessons in the classroom. Howard Gardner translated his different intelligence into different minds which could be a way to implement this theory in the classroom (Geisen). Apart from lecturing and discussing it, I try to implement it as well in my own lessons. Giving students a lot of freedom to work on their own assignments, on their own fields of expertise, coming up with their own inspiration and always discussing different perspectives of a subject. EXAMPLE: My lesson about Nature policy in Holland is not knowing what this policy is about BUT being aware how it is made, what influences it, where they can find it, seeing different perspectives and at the end … making their own vision on nature (policy). What do you recommend? I’m very curious what you think of everything I’ve written above. If you have any ideas or advice or experience about these matters and want to share or discuss this, I will be very pleased. I think a better future is also our responsibility (as teacher trainers) in the way of giving the right education. But when is it right? Literature, resources: Benelux. (2016, mei 23). Natuur- en milieueducatie en educatie voor duurzame ontwikkeling in de Benelux. Opgehaald van Benelux, leefmilieu en ruimte: http://www.benelux.int/nl/kernthemas/leefmilieu/natuur-en-milieueducatie-en-educatie-voor-duurzame-ontwikkeling-de-benelux Frijters, S. (2016). Leren voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling Gewoon Doen. Stoas Wageningen | Vilentum Hogeschool.


Geisen, G. (sd). Autopoiesis, Perspective on sustainable meaningful education. Download a summary here: http://www.irisz.me/producten/autopoiesis#.V0L7STWLSM8. Jong, F. d. (2015). Understanding the difference. Responsive education: A search for 'a differnce which makes a difference' for transition, learning and education. Stoas Wageningen | Vilentum Hogeschool. M. Scheffer, S. C. (2001). Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature, volume 413, 591-696. UE4SD. (2015). Leading Practice Publication: Professional development of university educators on Education for Sustainable Development in European countries. Prague: Charles University in Prague. UNESCO. (2005). UN decade of education for sustainable 2005-2014. Paris: UNESCO. van Leeuwen, C. (1965). Het verband tussen natuurlijke en anthropogene landschapsvormen, bezien vanuit de betrekkingen in grensmilieus. Gorteria 2, no 8, 93-105. van Leeuwen, C. (1966). A relation theoretical approach to pattern and process in vegetation. . Wentia 15, 25-46.



CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS Eva-Maria Alfing Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Francisco Ortiz Berrocal IFAPA Cordoba, Spain e-mail: [email protected] Tonya Georgieva Agricultural University Plovdiv, Bulgaria e-mail: [email protected] Detlef Haß Peter Lenne Schule, Berlin, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Hanna Illola TAMK Tampere, Finland e-mail: [email protected]

Arie de Jong Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] Pekka Kalli TAMK Tampere, Finland e-mail: [email protected] Beate Kralicek University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy, Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] Wilhelm Linder University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy, Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] Li Ling Beijing Vocational college, China Jan - Willem Noom Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]










Marije Bijma-Pasma Lauwers College, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] Zillur Rahman Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Sophie Raynaud Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique Toulouse, France e-mail: [email protected] Marcel Robischon Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany e-mail: [email protected]

Sandra van der Wielen Stoas Vilentum University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] Ma Yu Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany e-mail: [email protected]








CZECH PARTICIPANTS OF THE CONFERENCE

Helena Alexová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Jana Bečková Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected]

Radmila Dytrtová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected]

Marie Fiřtíková Vyšší odborná škola a střední odborná škola Březnice e-mail: [email protected]

Lucie Franková Střední škola elektrotechniky a strojírenství, Praha 10 e-mail: Franková [email protected] Marie Hanušová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Oliva Horová Střední škola dostihového sportu a jezdectví, Praha - Velká Chuchle e-mail: [email protected] Eva Hrušková Střední odborné učiliště potravinářské Jílové e-mail: [email protected] Hana Hudečková Czech University of Life Sciences Prague e-mail: [email protected] Dana Jandová Střední zemědělská škola Čáslav e-mail: [email protected] Jitka Jirsáková Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected]













Barbora Jordánová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Alena Krajíčková Ústav zemědělské ekonomiky a informací e-mail: [email protected] Emil Kříž Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Josef Kutílek Střední odborné učiliště, Nové Strašecí e-mail: [email protected] Vojtěch Marek ADRA, The Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] Marie Matysková SOU Gastronomie a podnikání, Praha e-mail: [email protected] Jaroslav Nejedlý Střední odborná škola a střední odborné učiliště Hořovice Karel Němejc Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Lenka Nosková Střední škola zahradnická Kopidlno e-mail: [email protected] Renata Pyrochtová Národní ústav pro vzdělávání e-mail: [email protected] Ilona Růžičková Střední škola dostihového sportu a jezdectví, Praha - Velká Chuchle e-mail: [email protected] Kamila Řebíčková Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected]













Milan Slavík Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Lucie Smékalová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Marcela Sýkorová Střední škola dostihového sportu a jezdectví, Praha - Velká Chuchle e-mail: [email protected] Kateřina Tomšíková Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Kateřina Vítková Střední škola dostihového sportu a jezdectví, Praha - Velká Chuchle e-mail: [email protected] Jiří Votava, Ph.D. Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected] Simona Vyoralová Institute of Education and Communication CULS Prague e-mail: [email protected]









Title: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Agricultural and Environmental Education. Proceedings of Enter Study Days in Prague Publisher: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague,

Institute of Education and Communication Editors: Mgr. Jiří Votava, Ph.D., Prof. Ing. Milan Slavík, CSc. Print: Reprographic Studio of the Faculty of Economics and

Management, CULS Issue: 80 copies No of pages: 116 Edition: First, 2016 This publication is not for sale. Publication is not a subject of language check. Papers are sorted by authors’ names in alphabetical order. ISBN 978-80-213-2662-0 © Czech University of Life Sciences Prague © Authors of papers

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INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES IN AGRICULTURAL AND ... · “The founding institutes defined under Article 2 have acknowledged the necessity of joining together, on an international